Newbie Needs Advice Re Purchase and Renting

[Amy5000]

Hi All. I'm excited to say that I'm about to join your club! I only started to look into purchasing points last week, but I already have a contract on my desk for the purchase (resale) of 100 pts at SSR.

I've been stalking this Board for the last few days and I thought it was funny how everyone loved to "add-on" but the more I read and think about things, the more excited I get and I find that I already want to purchase more pts. One of the reasons I bought in the resale market was I didn't want to buy a lot of points. Of course, now in thinking about it, I find myself planning much larger vacations in my head than 100 pts will sustain.

I've started to think that I'll look for some less expensive pts in one of the 2042 resorts. So here's my question:

If I purchase points that I don't end up using, how difficult is it to rent out points? I've been checking out the rent / trade board and it seems like it would be easy to do. (Meaning it seems like there's quite a willing market of renters out there.) I'm sure it's a bit of work (like anything...responding to email inquiries - calling MS on behalf of the renter), but am I correct in assuming that if you want to rent your points and are willing to do a reasonable but not insane amount of work its no problem?

I guess with only purchasing 100 pts the risk of it seems pretty small, but if I were to purchase more so I could take extended family with us on vacation it wouldn't be as minimal an investment it would make me a little nervous. Have there ever been years where it was much harder to rent out your pts.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any insight. I'm really looking forward to joining all you Disney fanatics.

Amy

 

[dianeschlicht]

We own far more than 100 points, and we have never "needed" to rent any of them out. Don't forget, you can always bank any unused points into your next use year. Of course, then if you have too many that next year, you might need to rent them out to keep from losing them, since they can't be banked twice. You DO keep a running total though, and as long as you use more than you bank each year, you will never find yourself in that kind of fix where you have to rent or lose points.

This year, I am finding I'll have about 156 points that I'll likely need to bank. I'm planning a March trip next year that will use all of those anyway, so no problem with that! Gee, maybe I should start an II exchange search for Hawaii! I've been thinking of doing that again anyway!

 

[Coach81]

What does "II exchange" mean?

 

[Deb & Bill]

It's an exchange company that handles other timeshares that Disney has negotiated for members to trade to.

Don't purchase points with the intent to rent them out. Plan to use them as often as possible. Otherwise you're not getting your money's worth. We have 500 points and use them all every year. I don't see how you couldn't use 100 points in year.

 

[Coach81]

Don't worry, my wife has assured me that we will either use or bank our points every year!

 

[Amy5000]

Yes. I agree that with 100 pts we will likely be using them every year. Maybe more like every 2 out of 3 years since 100 points may not be enough depending on the week and resort, etc.

The reason I asked about renting is because I'm seriously considering purchasing more points!! (And I made fun of all of you with add-on-itis!!)

Also, last night as I was reading some a thread I saw someone reference that the there were renting horror stories out there. Anyone care to enlighten me?

As for using 500 pts every year.... I think DH and I would have a hard time affording going to WDW that much every year. (Although it does sound awesome to me!).

Amy

 

[dianeschlicht]

Well, yes, jumping from 100 to 500 would be quite a jump, but do a bit of research on the resort you want as your home and the number of points it takes to stay in the size accommodations you require, and use that to determin how many points. We didn't do that when we started out, so we jumped in will-nilly and bought 230 first. It only took us one trip to understand that wasn't enough for what we wanted to do, so we jumped will-nilly again and added on 150 more. Now, while those 380 have been just about right, we have always been in a banking state. We seem to bank some points every year. Not that it's bad, but we probably should have done the research first, if we would have been smart about it. Now, when we added on at AKV, we did do the smart thing and took into account the number of points we would need every third year for a ressie of the duration and unit that we would want there. That lead us to a 69 point add-on. That way, by banking and borrowing every third year, we will have the points we require for us at that resort in the 11 month booking window.

SO...look at the point charts and the resorts you are interested in and be smarter than we were about how many points to start out with.

 

[Amy5000]

Thanks for the info Diane...For the record, I was not considering adding 500 points...it was more of a "wow" comment as to someone stating that they used all their 500 pts every year.

Actually, I think that 100 pts will more or less cover my immediate family (me, DH, 4 yo DS and 2yo. DD) in a studio for the next several years. We may have to borrow a few points here or there. The only time it doesn't seem like enough is when I think let's bring my parents or my bro or the inlaws and cousins (etc.). To cover a vacation where we would need more than a studio, it just makes sense to have more points.

But after reading your posts last night I decided that the 100pts will be for the 4 of us to take family vacations. If we want to go with my folks or other family members, we'll rent a large condo in Orlando, rent a car and use our free "parking privileges" and annual pass discounts.

That said, I can already understand the tug of "add-on-itis."

Amy

 

[tubtruck]

100 points wont get you a great deal of time at wdw even in a studio, its less than a week. But on the other hand points cost money and most folk dont have anywhere near an infinite supply of the stuff, more points may seem a good idea but remember twice the point = twice the annual dues. Buy what you can comfortably afford.

 

[NeverLandAgain]

100 points wont get you a great deal of time at wdw even in a studio, its less than a week. But on the other hand points cost money and most folk dont have anywhere near an infinite supply of the stuff, more points may seem a good idea but remember twice the point = twice the annual dues. Buy what you can comfortably afford.

Hi!

I may be doing this wrong so please be gentle. I downloaded a point calculating program from a member here and a week in an Old Key West studio is less than 100 points for Adventure, Choice and Dream Seasons, and requires 109 Points for Magic Season. So I think a yearly week would be very easy to do with 100 DVC points.

 

[tubtruck]

only just at the cheapest resort out of season thats if you want to pick holes? maybe she wont be happy with anything less than a 1 bed either?

 

[Amy5000]

Buy what you can comfortably afford.

Good advice. While I can afford more points right now (who knows what the dues will feel like in a few years), I'd like to keep my initial investment low until I see how we use it. Also, I don't necessarily think we need to have a family vacation at Disney every year... of course, I hear its addictive. If we have to skip a year b/c we borrowed too many points....so be it. Growing up I only went to Disney 2 times and I survived!

That said, I'm considering watching for some smaller contracts on the resale market.... I get excited just thinking about it.

Amy

 

[dianeschlicht]

(snip) If we want to go with my folks or other family members, we'll rent a large condo in Orlando, rent a car and use our free "parking privileges" and annual pass discounts.

That said, I can already understand the tug of "add-on-itis."

Amy

Remember that you do NOT get free parking with DVC ownership unless you are staying on-site. The free parking only comes with the Annual Pass.

 

[Amy5000]

only just at the cheapest resort out of season thats if you want to pick holes? maybe she wont be happy with anything less than a 1 bed either?

I'm ok w/ a studio at OWK and SSR. As for timing...well it's not clear to me that we will be going very off season...so we may need to borrow points in manner that means we can't go every year...

If I end up addicted, I'll suck it up and buy more points. (As per my earlier post, I'm going to look out for a smaller pts. contract). Diane: Thanks for the info about needing an annual pass for to get free parking. I didn't realize that, but in the back of my head I was going to plan to have 2 vacations w/i one year so I could get more mileage out of an annual pass. (Per a suggestion from one of our friends).

Amy