Pending SSR Purchase: Do it or go resale?

[cybant]

Hi! This is my first time here and I think this board is great!

I am awaiting a 200 pt. contract on SSR. The points will be used by my signifacant other, myself, and potentially her 18 yr old son. I have recently become aware of the resale market. The prices look attractive, but to me adding in the cost of closing, the hassle, 10 years less, and the potential for Disney's ROFR makes it a little less appealing. The only other resorts I thin kI would consider would be BWV or BC and their MF's look a little higher.... However, I don't want to have regrets about paying $84 a point for SSR later on. I think the proximity to DD makes it perfect for us and we really do like the decor! I guess I am a little confused and would appreciate any advice from you more experienced DVC'ers. I guess I just need a little encouragement.

What is your advice?

Thank you.

 

[rocketriter]

The advice you'll most often get is to buy into the resort where you'd like to stay most often.

To do so you probably need to begin by feeling out what your resort preference really is, not by dollar or years of use but by sheer pleasure. After that, assuming that your wallet can carry the load, follow your heart.

 

[JeffPort]

Rocketriter has it right. Once you decide that DVC is a good fit for you, you should go with the location that best fits your interests and tastes. Picking a different resort to save a few dollars on the point cost doesn't make much sense unless both locations are appealing to you.

For us, Downtown Disney does not have any appeal. We'd much rather be nearby the parks, enabling our family to take a leisurely walk to and from our resort. We're not much into the nightlife found at DD and value that much less than the Epcot/MGM corridor. This pushed me away from SSR and OKW and into options for BWV and BCV. We ended up with a great resale for BWV. But in the long run, I'm sure we'll be happy with our decision long after we lose track of the original purchase price -- because it it the "right" place for our family.

If you want the nightlife of Downtown Disney, I can certainly understand the huge advantage of being able to walk or take a boat ride from your resort, rather than using a bus or fighting for a parking space.

If you want that location, but are interested in saving some money on your purchase, maybe OKW is worth your consideration. It tends to resell at a lower rate than BWV and BCV. I've never stayed there, but the owners on this board rave about the wonderful rooms (particularly the disporportionately large size compared to all other resorts). DVC also announced an upgrade to OKW's main pool this year. Another consideration ... since SSR is so large, trading into it at the 7 month window shouldn't be much of a problem for most visits.

A note about resales ... they are definitely cheaper than buying directly from Disney -- significantly so. All offers out there are negotiable, so if you go this route, don't be afraid to make an offer to the owner. The best deals will include "banked" points from an owner that has stopped using their contract. With these situations, you'll end up with a free year -- basically, an extra trip for nothing as the owner has already paid the dues for last year's points, but didn't use them. Conversely, don't even consider resales with "borrowed" points removed from the future year. The price discount is not even close to the lost value of those missing points.

You should be able to pick up an OKW contract for about $66 - $70 a point. Closing costs are about $500, so you'll need to factor that into your final cost. (For a 150 point contract, it will add $3.33 in cost to each point.) The ROFR wait is a bit of a headache, but the rest of the process is really quite simple. The folks over at the Timeshare Store guided me through each step and the whole thing was done in about 6 weeks. My family just made our first reservation today on our new BWV resale contract.

Best of luck in your purchase decision.

 

[vernon]

If you consider the extra 10 years is likely to get a decent use ( if not by you , by your SO's son) then I'd say the difference in cost is marginal. If you like the resort and location I would say stick with your original decision.

IMHO there's no point in trying to second guess yourself in the future, yes you may regret no going for a lower initial cost at times, but you may equally regret not having the extra 10 years in the future if you go the other route. Which ever way you go I think you'll have very few regrets .

 

[stacy6552]

THe thing about SSR's price is the longer life, so this time you are getting more for your money. I think you'd worry less about having spent more, than if you bought somehwere else and were constantly wishing youd bought into SSR.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by cybant
I think the proximity to DD makes it perfect for us and we really do like the decor!

I think that this says a lot. The near-universal advice is "Buy where you want to stay", so if you like SSR and its closeness to DTD, buy there. And, as others have said, the cost difference isn't that much; resale has lower point cost but closing costs and shorter term - SSR has higher cost but no closing and a longer term. I'd hate for you to save some short-term $$$ but regret it for 40-50 years....