Ok, so yesterday posted about renting now posting about buying...

[mrs. magoo]

So yesterday I wrote about possibly renting points today wondering about buying. I talked to DH and he said we could buy a contract resale. His exact words were "I'm like the sports player and you are my agent. Spend the money wisely."

So my questions are (And I have spent many hours reading these boards and are still a little confused)

1) Would a fair price for SSR be 68 - 70 a point? I am thinking about a 100 - 120 contract. We are a family of 6 and my dad usually travels with us. I want to get 2 studios for now. I figure that with SSR being so big we should be able to get rooms closer together. I don't care if they are next to each other. (boy room girl room) - Wonder which one will be cleaner?

2) Sorry digressed a bit above. The second question is that we need to travel at spring break due to me being a teacher. We are in NY so our Spring Break is a little different usually the 3rd week in April. I know that I can book at SSR at 11 months, but is it possible to be put on a waitlist at 7 months to stay at another resort. In other words I would have the SSR reservation if nothing else came though. Just wondering.

Sorry it is a bit long... Need help from the DVC experts. Once again thank you.

Kathe

 

[Sandisw]

Welcome and lots of great questions. Yes, I think that you should be able to get SSR via resale, that passes ROFR, around the high 60's, low 70's price point you mentioned.

Most owners, who can book 11 months out, do exactly what you said. They book rooms at their home resort to ensure they have a reservation. At the 7 month mark, will call back and see if anything is available at the other resorts. If there is, they will cancel SSR and rebook you. If nothing is available for your time frame, then you can ask to be put on a wait list.

The only problem I see with your scenario is that you are booking 2 rooms. Those would be separate wait lists (and if I am wrong, someone else will correct me) and there would be no guarantee that both would come through.

The other important piece for you is UY. If you travel in April (and I am a teacher in NY!!!), then you want to get a February, March, or April UY. This way, you will receive your points each year right before you travel and if you had to cancel a trip at least 31 days out (there are different rules for the points when you cancel with less than that), you would still be able to bank the points to the next year or use them for another vacation without restrictions.

Good luck and keep asking questions. I just bought in February--first through resale and then with a BLT add on.

Happy planning!

 

[littlestar]

Yes. You can have 2 waitlists at the same time.

You're spot on for SSR resale prices. There's actually a nice 115 point August use year contract on the Timeshare Store right now. I was kind of eyeing it myself, but I don't need quite that many points on an add-on. Really, the more I think about it, for April travel I would probably look for a different use year than August to be able to bank points if you needed to cancel. I also see a 100 point February contract out there and it's got current year points. So you could bank those and have 200 points for 2010.

Regarding using a wait list for your Spring break, I think the 3rd week of April would be easier than late March or early April since most of the schools throughout the country have earlier breaks than yours.

Keep us posted if you make an offer. We actually really, really like SSR. We sold our VWL and BWV points and switched our ownership to SSR for the longer years and the fact that we enjoyed staying at SSR.

Good luck.

 

[delmar411]

the only thing I'd really think hard about is the 2 studios. Honestly our vacations are family time, not time to spend apart in 2 different rooms that could be in in 2 completely different sections of the resort.

Also the studios are basically just glorified hotel rooms which while fine, for a bigger family part of the specific draw to DVC tend to be things like a kitchen, a washer/dryer in room, the big garden tubs, the big king sized bed in the master. Those things are not available in the studios.

Just something to consider about the number of points for rooms and the way you'd prefer to travel for the next 40yrs.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

DH is a teacher, and I would consider buying a contract with a Dec UY. This will allow you to travel Christmas, spring break and the summer before your points expire (end of November). It also allows you to book vacations during the times listed above, cancel and still be able to bank your points if you can't use them by the end of July.

I've been looking at the same contract size as you. What I'm finding is that most people have SSR contracts listed in the low to mid 70s, but for 120 points or less, you're looking more in the mid-70s. I'm also looking at OKW (LOVE OKW) because people are willing to go a little lower. Only problem with OKW is the MFs are a little higher, and the cheaper contracts expire in 2042 instead of 2054 (SSR) or 2057 (OKW extended).

Congrats on buying your first contract! We absolutely love owning, and will be leaving for AKV for a week in 6 days (DH and kids spring break)!!! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!

 

[mrs. magoo]

Thank you for the quick responses. I did think about the 2 bedroom vs studios but really we always have 2 rooms and when my dad trades off his timeshare we are always in separate rooms. We hang out in one room and go to bed in separate rooms at night. We are cool with it. The kids actually like going with Papa - kinda like a sleep over. We plan to travel every other year so banking and borrowing will be involved.

Thank you for all the advice and I will keep you updated. Now I just need to be brave enough to actually put an offer in - Ack

Kathe

 

[Deb & Bill]

Only buy at SSR if you really want to stay there. If you couldn't get anything else at 7 months out, would you be happy at SSR?

If you could see yourself going every other year or every three years, you could bank and borrow those points and get a two bedroom villa instead of the two studios. Staying in a studio, while it may save points, isn't really giving you the real feeling of DVC. It's more like just a hotel room, but you don't get two beds in each room - only one bed and one sleeper sofa (a queen bed and double sleeper sofa in a studio).

Don't forget, if you go on the waitlist at 7 months or change at 7 months, you will probably need more points for another resort. OKW might be the only one you wouldn't need extra points for. And, what would you do if only one waitlist came through? You'd have the family separated at two different resorts.

Have you thought about OKW? You don't need quite as many points as SSR or the other resorts and the two bedroom is enormous. Plus if you have to stay in a studio, you will get two queen beds in the OKW studio.

I have seen a few OKW contracts that were extended to 2057 and are no more expensive than OKW contracts that expire in 2042.

You could always contact one or more of the resellers and ask them to be on the lookout for a specific contract for you based on the number of points, price per point, use year.

 

[littlestar]

Here's another idea to kick around if you would want to book a DVC 2 bedroom for 5 nights. Since grandpa has another timeshare that he trades I wanted to mention something that our family does. Sometimes we trade our Marriott timeshare into a 2 or 3 bedroom unit in Orlando, checking in on a Thursday or Friday, and then make a DVC reservation on points for a Sunday or Monday check-in. So we do a split stay offsite and 4 or 5 days onsite.

I don't know what exchange affiliation company grandpa is with, but we also like taking advantage of RCI's last calls for $249 for a 2 bedroom for the week or II (Interval's) Getaways (usually priced around $400 and up). At those kind of prices, we don't nececessarily feel we have to stay the full 7 nights to get our money's worth when we get ready to start our Disney point stay.

We usually use this strategy when we are planning on an 8 to 10 day trip.

 

[dcfromva]

It looks like you might run into trouble with Spring break about every 3 years. Disney has the highest point values the week prior and the week after Easter Sunday. For example, this year Premier Season is 5-18 Apr (with Easter on the 12th).
Easter dates in the future:
4 April 2010 (expect premier season to be 28 Mar - 10 Apr)
24 April 2011 (expect premier season to be 17-30 Apr)
8 April 2012 (expect premier season to be 1-14 Apr
31 March 2013 (expect premier season to be 24 Mar - 6 Apr)
20 April 2014 (expect premier season to be 13-26 Apr)
5 April 2015 (expect premier season to be 29 Mar-11 Apr)
27 March 2016
16 April 2017
1 April 2018
21 April 2019
12 April 2020
4 April 2021
17 April 2022
9 April 2023
31 March 2024
20 April 2025
5 April 2026
28 March 2027
16 April 2028
1 April 2029

 

[dcfromva]

The only problem I see with your scenario is that you are booking 2 rooms. Those would be separate wait lists (and if I am wrong, someone else will correct me) and there would be no guarantee that both would come through.

I agree with this assessment. If only one studio matches (at a different resort), this could cause some angst--especially if the other W-L never comes through and the OP might not be able to get back into the home resort for both studios...

 

[mrs. magoo]

Once again great responses. Thank you for the break down of the easter dates. Really hadn't thought that far out, but we could possibly add on by then if we needed to. I really like the idea of using Papa's RCI for the beginning of the trip - thanks.

Kathe

 

[kimberh]

Wasn't your rental post about a resort on the Boardwalk? BeachClub or Boardwalk, I don't recall right off? Either way, they are harder to book than SSR. They are smaller. Even at the 7 month window. Especially in April, many schools have different Spring Breaks. They all don't fall around Disney's Premier season on the point charts.
The word on this board is, Buy Where You Want To Stay. That way you will always have a room at your desired resort. If SSR is where you really want to stay, then that is good. I just know that I rent from time to time, that is not the resort that is highly requested. It is a good resort to fall back on.

Before I bought BWV and BCV's I was not having any luck securing a room there. Now, with the recession, I understand it is a little easier now at certain times of the year. I just tried to book a standard view Studio for a week in Jan, some of the days were missing at BWV. This was last week. The next week was available.

Good Luck with your decision,

 

[SunnieRN]

I agree with buy where you want to stay!! Also, if you are concerned about the price per point it may be a bit more expensive where you really want to stay, but in the long run if you get to take your vacations where you really want to be, it will more than make up for the price difference!!

 

[mrs. magoo]

I totally agree about buying where I want to stay. We checked out the pictures and like SSR and the Beach Club. At SSR we can get more bang for our buck - I would look to add on Beach Club in a couple years depending on how of the 4 need braces. I have an inquiry in about the 2 resorts so we will see what happens.

Thanks again for the responses.

Kathe

 

[joeytdog]

I would rent at least one time before buying especially if you have to finance the purchase. I have rented the past three years and if you work the numbers, renting can end up costing just as much as buying over the course of time. If you factor in the interest on a 10 year loan

I want to buy. If I had the money I would.

Otherwise renting is a great alternative

 

[mrs. magoo]

Totally agree, but this is one of the main reasons I am looking at SSR. I can get in for under $8,000 with closing costs. We would not have to finance this so this is my goal. Hopefully all will work out and by the end of May I can say I am an owner of DVC.

Kathe