Price Per Point

[ejbrandt]

I am considering buying a DVC resale. Wouldnt it be smart to buy in at the lowest price per point even if that would not be your perfered home? Is it hard to get a reservation?

So if I bought at Vero Beach at $58 per point and then wanted a reservation at SSR would it be impossible to get in.

Is price per point the right way to think when making the purchase?

 

[Sandisw]

It is not impossible to change out at 7 months and many members have had great luck. However, it does depend on when you go and what you want. Certain things are going to be extremely difficult unless you own there (AKV Concierge, BLT MK or Standard View, VWL in December or the Epcot resorts during F & W).

I personally would not buy VB with the intent on only using it at WDW. The pricer per point is cheaper, but the MF's are not and any savings you have upfront will be eaten away with those higher fees.

If you think staying at SSR while in WDW is okay, then I would buy there. The MF's are lower than VB, the contract expires in 2054 (vs. 2042 at VB), and the price per point is only $10.00 - $15.00 more, not enough, IMHO, to buy at VB. SSR is really a great deal for those that want to vacation in WDW.

And, if you own at SSR, you know that you can make reservations at WDW 11 months out. With VB, you can't book at WDW until 7 months. If what you want is not available, you will be stuck. You could end up having to change resorts several times to piece together a trip.

I bought at BLT because I only want to stay there. Price per point was obviously more, but where I stay is important and I want to be able to book it at 11 months--didn't want to leave anything to chance.

Good luck!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You also need to consider the maintenance fees and VB has the highest. That will quickly eat into any savings on the buy in.

Also, having non-Orlando resort makes it riskier for use at WDW. If you own a property at WDW then you'll be able to use the 11 month booking window at your home resort. With VB you'd always have to wait until 7 months - which most likely would work, but still comes with a risk.

The prices on SSR resale have really dropped - larger contracts have been bought in the low 60's from several reports - and SSR has some of the lowest dues. It seems to be a very good deal right now!

 

[wdrl]

I personally would not buy VB with the intent on only using it at WDW. The pricer per point is cheaper, but the MF's are not and any savings you have upfront will be eaten away with those higher fees.

Sandisw makes a good point about the effect of maintenance fees on the overall DVC purchase. MFs for SSR are $4.34 and for VB they are $6.41 in 2009. Assuming a person had a 160-point contract, the yearly MFs are $694.40 for SSR but $1,025.60 for VB, a difference of $331.20. If an SSR contract costs $15 a point more than VB (resulting in an SSR 160-point contract costing $2,400 more than VB), it would take just over 7 years for you to recover that difference due to SSR's cheaper MF.

Another way to look at it is that we'll spend more on MF during the life of a DVC contract than on the original purchase price. If you bought a VB 160-point contract for $58, you'll pay $9,280. But over 32 years you'll pay $32,819.20 in MF. In 32 years, you'll spend $22,220.80 in SSR's MF. And none of these calculations consider MFs usually increase 3-5% every year.

 

[DebbieB]

If DVC would remove your home resort from the DVC system (while unlikely, they can do it), would you still be happy? Would you be happy only being able to book Vero Beach? Vero Beach is risky because of it's coastal location, dues are high because of insurance. Plus if there was major hurricane damage, they could suspend booking elsewhere during reconstruction.

 

[princessbride6205]

We opted to buy in the cheapest way possible - 50 points at VB & paying cash.
Yes, the MF fees are higher, but on only 50 points they are $320/year, so we're ok with that. We just book studios and will mostly vacation during less busy times, so we're not worried about getting a WDW room in the near future. My rationale is that if we bought a more expensive buy-in, we'd probably finance, and then all savings would go toward loan interest.
When we add on (hopefully next year), we'll pick a 50-pt contract actually at WDW. I wouldn't put all my eggs in the Vero Beach basket, ya know? Intending to vacation at WDW and buying 200 pts at VB wouldn't be something I would do. But starting small to become members works for us.

 

[job09]

I bought a fully loaded(2 years worth of points) cheap VB contract for 150 pts at 50 dollars a point. and I've never looked back. We've gone to Grand Ca. lodge in Disneyland and now I just booked 2bedroom Bay Lake Tower for Presidents Day weekend in Feb. without any prob. at the 7 month mark. I can't wait to stay at VB but for now while the kids are small we are having no problem booking at WDW and DL. Good Luck!!