Potential member - got a few questions

[KristiKelly]

DH & I have been talking for a couple of monthes of either purchasing a DVC contract or a camper (we have small kids & they would love that too) anyway, with Hilton Head not too far, we've decided that DVC is the way to go - resale. We were very interested in the SSR resale @ The Timeshare Store - but missed out - it's pending now.

Anyway, I have a few questions for all you DVC experts.

1st, If we were to buy into SSR - 50 years. Can we put our names & our kids names on the contract? Can these contracts be "willed"? There is now guarantee that we will be here tomorrow much less 50 years from now. What happens to this contract if Dh & I are not here? Dh wants the 50 year because he wants it available for our kids & there kids to enjoy for many years. Does that make sense what I'm asking??? We want to be sure that if something happens to us, that our kids can still enjoy this - they are the reason we are doing this.

2nd, When we took the SSR tour last fall, we were told that the dues could/would change, but the point value will not. I read a few pages back about the 2005 points charts not yet out & people were having a hard time booking w/ their 11 month window. I was under the assumption that if a studio @ BCV was 12 points in October this year then it would be 12 points 5 years from now. Do the points change year after year or is the "season" dates that change that effect your points. Does that make sense???

Now, for that dreaded use year question I know that if you have a use year of August then you do not get your years worth of points until then. Now, is that when your 11 month booking window is "open"? You could then book as far as July of the following year (@ home resort) or March @ another resort? We like WDW in the fall (Oct-Nov), should we would try to get a Dec or Jan use year? Do they offer those? I know that some monthes are not offered as use years. I don't know if the 11 month window is all that important to us since we are not picky as to where we stay & would like to stay @ them all & would be willing to take whatever is available. If we had an Aug. use year & wanted to go to Hilton Head in June, would we make ressies in Nov.? If you "bank points", do you have to wait a certain time (like your use year) to book with those or anytime? Get me straight on all this so I have it straight when explaining to DH.

Thanks
Kristi

 

[stacy6552]

use year refers to when you get your points each year. So if you have an august use year thats when you get your points. the booking window is in relation to your trip. so if you have an august use year and are planning a trip for September, than you can book it with that years points as far in advance as the October before.

Yes you can will your points to your kids.

Why are you set on resale? For SSR, I would buy through Disney. With resales you have to add on closing costs. With disney you get to choose your use year, and if youre not going before your next use year comes around you can rent back your points to Disney bringing the price down. And in addition to it being much quicker, easier, and getting to choose your use year, you can also split your points between contracts so you can will them both points (since youre thinking about it).

 

[tjkraz]

I don't believe you can have a minor child listed as an owner. However DVC does permit the contract to be willed to certain blood relatives, including spouse or child.

When you hear people talking about changing point charts, it's one of two things:

1. The point cost to stay at a NON-DVC resort (Grand Floridian, Poly, etc.) or even a Disney Cruise.

2. The exact dates of the Spring Break and Thanksgiving seasons each year, which do change. The week before and after Easter will always be Premier season, but those weeks change annually. Same goes for Thanksgiving weekend, which will have different dates each year.

Use Year has NOTHING to do with your booking window. As far as booking goes, you can book your stay 11 months ahead of time as long as you have the points available at the time of your stay--even if they are banked or borrowed points.

Use Year IS relevant in terms of your banking window. Up to 6 mos before the end of your Use Year, you can bank 100% of your points. Thus, it's nice to have a Use Year that immediately preceeds your normal travel patterns. If you have an August Use Year and normally travel in September or October--great. If you ever have to cancel one of those Sept/Oct trips, you still have pleanty of time to bank your points for next year.

But if you have an Aug UY and you like to travel in July--that could be bad news. If something comes up at the last minute and you have to cancel a July trip on 45 days notice, you will probably be outside of the banking window altogether meaning that those points still must be used for a stay before 7/31 or they are lost altogether.

As you can see, based upon your travel plans, August would be ideal while a December Use Year could come back to bite you.

If your travel patters are fairly fixed and you don't anticipate an immediate change, don't underestimate the importance of Use Year. Resale contracts have a fixed Use Year. For SSR, it may take a while before you can find a resale contract with the number of points and UY that you really want.

 

[KristiKelly]

Thanks for the info, as far as buying through resale or direct, I understand there are no closing cost through DVC, how much does that usually cost? The resale was for 200 points @ $78 per point ($15,600) & I've "heard" (not through DVC though)that points are now selling for $95 per point ($19,000), that's a $3400 difference. Closing cost would not be $3400. As far as the time frame goes, that doesn't really matter to us, we already have a trip booked this year & would not be using any points until next spring or summer. I'm not saying that buying direct is out of the question, but still $78 sounds better that $95.

Let me see that I've got this, If you had a December use year, you would have to know by the following May whether or not you would be using your points or to bank 100%. If you waited too late to bank (100%), I guess you'd be better off renting rather than lose them all together - right?

Do they sell a book DVC for Dummies???

 

[kweaver]

Everyone here has given you a great explantion.

I just wanted to pop in, as a mom of small kids who had a camper, and say you should *definitely* buy DVC over a camper!!!!!!

We sold our camper this winter. Last week was our first DVC vacation (not our first WDW vacation)...and I can't tell you how many times DH and I looked at each other and said "Glad we're not camping!"

Don't get me wrong, we still like camping. We still have all of our gear and our tent...and we'll still take weekend trips. We just didn't want camping to BE vacation. At SSR it was just so nice to have a wonderful vacation and not have all of the WORK involved!! A lot of that work falls on "Mom" when there are three small kids involved...so camping never seemed like a vacation to me.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[fkj2]

Do they sell a book DVC for Dummies???

No, but if they did, I'd buy myself a copy. It seems you just never stop learning the ins and outs of DVC but at least you've come to the right place---this forum is a wonderful wealth of knowledge.

And you can never say never, but it would seem difficult for me to believe that DVC would allow a SSR resale to go through at $78/point, esp. when the older resorts with fewer years remaining seem to be going for $70-72ish.

 

[zulaya]

My two cents on resale vs direct from DVC...

With a resale, there is definitely the chance for lower price. BUT, and this may especially hold true with SSR, ROFR (Right Of First Refusal) is the biggie here. Basically, if you offered $78, then the contract goes to Disney for them to approve the sale. IF DVC thinks that $78 is too low, then they (meaning DVC) can buy it from the seller at that price, removing you from the equation. Now, that's not to say that you have no chance. Other buyers here have reported that when that happens, they have offered the seller a higher price and then DVC waived ROFR, meaning the buyer got the contract.

The whole thing with resale is about waiting, whether it's for the right contract or waiting for ROFR to be passed or not. Only you can decide if you are that patient and if the price is worth it.

Oh, you also have to arrange your own financing with a resale.

With DVC, they can set up the financing for you. It's usually a higher percentage rate, but you have the option of paying it off as soon as you want with no penalty. You also can choose the use year if you feel so inclined and you can choose the exact amount of points you want right then and there. You also get into Member Services system quicker, which means being able to make a reservation quicker as well.

It seems to boil down to time. Are you willing to wait for the perfect contract to come up resale? If your DH really wants SSR, then it's probably going to be a while. And even then, you may be competing with others trying for that elusive SSR resale.

Best of luck.

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

Originally posted by KristiKelly


Do they sell a book DVC for Dummies???

This is about as close as you can get to DVC for Dummies:

http://allearsnet.com/acc/dvc.htm

As a former Dummy the above link combined with these boards really helped me understand the details when I was looking into buying my resale.

Good Luck!

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by tjkraz
I don't believe you can have a minor child listed as an owner. However DVC does permit the contract to be willed to certain blood relatives, including spouse or child.

I would think you could will it to anyone you choose, it's a piece of property.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by DebbieB
I would think you could will it to anyone you choose, it's a piece of property.

I'm sorry--you're right. I got confused when thinking about the rules involving transfer prior to death.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe you can transfer the ownership to certain relatives without having to pass through ROFR. For example, if you wanted to give your ownership to a spouse or child, no problem.

But if, for some reason, you were willing to sell your ownership to a neighbor for $50 per point, DVC could then take the contract at that price via ROFR.

Does that sound right?