newbie needing tips for purchasing OKW

[usakiwi]

Hi everyone.

First of all thanks for all of the great info, I have really enjoyed reading everything that you all have to say and have learned so much already!

I have tried to find the following info myself but admitedly have not been able to read every word of every post on here so thought this might be easier.

We are very new to this and would only be interested in a small contract at OKW, ideally only about 80 points, and ideally user year March/April. We really like the idea of OKW because we like it as a resort, not just because it is one of the cheaper ones or uses less points etc.

My questions are:

1. Do you think that this small amount of points would be very rare and that we will have to seriously consider buying a bigger contract if we don't want to miss out entirely? (I have looked at the ROFR post and do not see too many smaller ones for OKW)

2. What are your thoughts on why Disney is buying up OKW? I fear that it will be continually harder and harder to get this resort (thus back to my question of if we should just buy more than we want in order to get some at all at resale), would you agree? Would it be correct to assume that they will eventually be selling these direct? (We attended a DVC presentation very recently and they did not have OKW in stock)

3. Is there much correlation as to user year and when people tend to sell (ie a better time of year that we should be looking for a March/April UY...we realize that we may need to be flexible on the UY)

4. Any other tips, besides not having a loaded contract or too low of a purchase price, to increase our chances of getting through ROFR with this resort (when we eventually get to that point)?

Sorry for the length and thanks so much in advance for any help!

Stacie

 

[abdgeek]

Hi everyone.

First of all thanks for all of the great info, I have really enjoyed reading everything that you all have to say and have learned so much already!

I have tried to find the following info myself but admitedly have not been able to read every word of every post on here so thought this might be easier.

We are very new to this and would only be interested in a small contract at OKW, ideally only about 80 points, and ideally user year March/April. We really like the idea of OKW because we like it as a resort, not just because it is one of the cheaper ones or uses less points etc.

My questions are:

1. Do you think that this small amount of points would be very rare and that we will have to seriously consider buying a bigger contract if we don't want to miss out entirely? (I have looked at the ROFR post and do not see too many smaller ones for OKW)

2. What are your thoughts on why Disney is buying up OKW? I fear that it will be continually harder and harder to get this resort (thus back to my question of if we should just buy more than we want in order to get some at all at resale), would you agree? Would it be correct to assume that they will eventually be selling these direct? (We attended a DVC presentation very recently and they did not have OKW in stock)

3. Is there much correlation as to user year and when people tend to sell (ie a better time of year that we should be looking for a March/April UY...we realize that we may need to be flexible on the UY)

4. Any other tips, besides not having a loaded contract or too low of a purchase price, to increase our chances of getting through ROFR with this resort (when we eventually get to that point)?

Sorry for the length and thanks so much in advance for any help!

Stacie

Hi USAKIWI...I think the only two resorts for sale now are AKL and Aulani with the Grand Floridian to come. If you want OKW you will have to buy resale and will only be able to use your points for WDW and RCI. If you're ok with that, I say go for it.

As to the number or points you want to buy, below are some things to keep in mind:

1) 80 Points will be fine if you want to stay a week in a studio during Adventure or Choice Season(1/1-1/31, 9/1-9/30, 12/1-12/14, 10/1-10/31, 11/1-11/26, 11/30, and 12/15-12/23) at OKW. A 1BD during these times is between 157-174 points. If you plan on traveling any other time(March/April would require 108-152 studio vs. 222-300 1BD) or staying at other resorts, 80points is usually not be enough. That means that you will need to use about two years worth of points for one trip to WDW. Depending on your budget, if you purchased 160 points you would only need to use one year's worth of points to stay in a studio (up to 300 points for a 1BD during high season)at OKW and may have a couple points left over to bank to the next year.

2) The basic RCI properties require 160 points for a 1BD for a week. If you want to go to some of their premier properties you will need more points.

I would suggest looking at the time of year you want to travel and buying points based on that. There's no guarantee that Disney will offer OKW again for direct sale. I've been a DVC member since 2009 and it wasn't offered when I bought direct from Disney. Some of the more seasoned members can probably let you know the last time it was offered.

 

[AnnaS]

Welcome to the Dis.

Resale is the way to go if you want to save money, have time and patience, etc. Having said that - all our contracts including my son's are direct - no regrets either.

Smaller contracts and sometimes specific UY are hard to come buy. I just wanted to add that almost always DVC does have points to sell for other resorts if you tell them that.

Good luck. Again, time and patience for resales and you will find the right contract to fit your needs. Also from what I read - you should call the brokers and not just look for a listing on their website.

Keep us posted.

 

[Missyrose]

Hi USAKIWI...I think the only two resorts for sale now are AKL and Aulani with the Grand Floridian to come. If you want OKW you will have to buy resale and will only be able to use your points for WDW and RCI. If you're ok with that, I say go for it.

Actually, Disney will sell you contracts for any of the resorts, though they may put you on the wait list for the "sold out" resorts. I believe the per-point price for OKW is $100. AKV and Aulani are their current sales targets, so they won't ever advertise any resorts other than those two. But you can get any of them from Disney if you just ask.

As for the OP's main question, I think deciding whether to wait for your 80-point contract or buy more all depends on how quickly you need the points. If you have no real urgency, then you could probably wait for the right contract (and by doing so, possibly wait out this Disney OKW ROFR binge).

If you're in more of a rush, then you could buy a larger contract (100-point or 125-point contracts aren't as rare as their 50-95-point counterparts) via resale. Or you could look into buying from Disney direct. Buying direct will cost way more (like, thousands of dollars more) than resale. But you would get the exact contract/UY you want and the points in your account as soon as the deal closes. There aren't many times many of us would advocate buying direct but sometimes for small contracts, it may not be the worst idea in the world.

 

[usakiwi]

Hi again.

Thanks for the help so far. Just wanted to clarify a few things.

--I feel pretty comfortable with my knowledge of the advantages/disadvantages of buying resale but thanks for confirming that I had it correct.

--We realize that 80 is not very many points but have looked at the point charts and figured out what we would need for when we would want to travel...probably would be an every other year trip. So think we are pretty good with our needs for now...I am sure we will end up adding on at some point, as it seems so many people do! But just want to start small to try it out.

--I did ask the DVC agent directly at the presentation about OKW and he told me that he checked and there weren't any in their inventory. So am not sure if they were just out at the current moment (this was last week) or if he wanted me to buy the other ones on offer and didn't tell me the exact truth about OWK. (they were offering AKV, BLT, SS and WL) Was sort of why I was trying to see what you "experts" thought about the liklihood of Disney selling OKW.

--Any ideas when or if the current "buying back OKW" trend will end?

Thanks so much!

 

[Missyrose]

--I did ask the DVC agent directly at the presentation about OKW and he told me that he checked and there weren't any in their inventory. So am not sure if they were just out at the current moment (this was last week) or if he wanted me to buy the other ones on offer and didn't tell me the exact truth about OWK. (they were offering AKV, BLT, SS and WL) Was sort of why I was trying to see what you "experts" thought about the liklihood of Disney selling OKW.

--Any ideas when or if the current "buying back OKW" trend will end?

Thanks so much!

The DVC salespeople don't get the same bonuses when you buy from one of the sold-out resorts as they do when you buy from one of the resorts Disney is "currently selling." So they won't be as forthcoming about buying a sold out resort. They may not have any OKW points to offer you at that immediate moment, but they'll put you on a waiting list and when they ROFR or receive a contract back via foreclosure that fills your need, they'll sell it to you. In the meantime, keep an eye on the resale contracts because you might stumble across what you're looking for.

 

[maburke]

Get on the mailing list for the four big resellers, and take a minute to look over their listings every time you get an email. If you're patient, you probably will find what you're looking for. If not, at least you'll get an idea of what is available (bigger contract, different use year). I think Disney is ROFRing every reasonable OKW contract at the moment, maybe to fill the waitlists of people like you. However, this is generally true only for NON-extended contracts. It may be Disney's plan to get more of OKW contracts extended. (They buy up the non-extended contracts and turn around and sell them as extended.) So look for an extended contract, and for only a few dollars over what non-extended contracts are going for (and getting ROFR'd), you may find what you want.

Good luck -- keep us posted!

 

[chalee94]

1. Do you think that this small amount of points would be very rare and that we will have to seriously consider buying a bigger contract if we don't want to miss out entirely? (I have looked at the ROFR post and do not see too many smaller ones for OKW)

100 pts is probably easier to find, but you never know.

2. What are your thoughts on why Disney is buying up OKW?

DVC can buy back OKW-expiring-2042 and resell the pts as OKW-expiring-2057. it also gives them a discount product to sell at $100 per pt if buyers balk at BLT/VGF prices.

http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions