Probably a dumb question, but here goes

[racefanof88]

I am seriously thinking about buying into the DVC, still working on DH but he will come over to my side............ My brother bought in many moons ago, he got APs for so many years as the incentive. His home resort is OKW. Ok here are my questions. I have a family of 5(siggie line) but the 2 oldest are getting tired of Disney . So how many point should I look at buying? We live about 8 hours away and DH only gets 2 weeks vacation a year. We always come to Disney on vacation and usually take 6 days. Does it really matter what my home resort is? I know I can book at my home resort 11 mths out and others 7 mths out, but looking at some of the points and cost it would be cheaper to buy into VB and just book at another resort?
Is it safe to buy from another seller other than Disney? I have looked at two different sellers and they both offer great prices. I know Disney has to approve it. If I buy from anyone besides Disney can I buy more points later if I want to add on? And if by chance all 5 of us want to go at one time, would it be possible to take a roll away for the 5th person in a studio? I know I am asking way too many questions but this will help me sell it to DH.......lol.
Thank you all so much.

 

[Donald is #1]

OK, let's see how many questions I can answer.

ISo how mny point should I look at buying? We live about 8 hours away and DH only gets 2 weeks vacation a year. We always come to Disney on vacation and usually take 6 days.

First you need to figure out what size villa that you would use. Next figure out when you will be traveling. Now look at the point charts and determine the number of points that you would need. (How is that for a non-answer? )

Does it really matter what my home resort is? I know I can book at my home resort 11 mths out and others 7 mths out, but looking at some of the points and cost it would be cheaper to buy into VB and just book at another resort?

It depends. If you want to stay at a certain resort and you will be disappointed if you can't, then you should buy at that resort. On the other hand, if you don't mind where you stay, then you may want to look at OKW or SSR since they tend to be cheaper. On the VB side, first, the maintanence fees are much higher at VB than the on-site WDW resorts. Also, since it can be difficult booking at 7 months depending upon the time of year, I would go with an on-site resort.

Is it safe to buy from another seller other than Disney? I have looked at two different sellers and they both offer great prices. I know Disney has to approve it.

Yes, it is very safe to buy from a reputable reseller. There are multiple resellers that members of this DIS boards have used. To check currently reported resale prices, see this thread. ROFR Thread

If I buy from anyone besides Disney can I buy more points later if I want to add on?

Yes, if you buy your contract via resale or via Disney, you can add-on later with Disney.

And if by chance all 5 of us want to go at one time, would it be possible to take a roll away for the 5th person in a studio?

Unfortunately, no. Studios are limited to 4 people. Also 1 bedrooms are also limited to 4 except for some AKV rooms and reportedly BLT.

 

[racefanof88]

Thank you! It does help. I have seen some sales for $8200.00 for 100 points at SSR. Is that good? It looked good to me . I tried to talk my brother into selling me his but alas no go.... I would rather buy on site than anywhere else. When I win the Florida Lottery I will just buy me a house and move to Orlando

 

[5forDiz]

Agree with pp : buy where you really want to stay & if that is WDW don't bank on being able to get reservation at 7 months with VB points.

Just one thing I want to mention regarding your two eldest kids - we thought our eldest two ( about same age as yours ) were starting to get bored with WDW too but then guess what ? they began inviting friends along ! and they are loving our trips more than ever !! Eventually they will no doubt want to make these trips just them & their friends. Soooo don't count 'em out just yet !!

Good luck on your decision

PS - We're 88 fans too ! Eldest two & friends just got back from Dover - not a great day for Jr.

 

[racefanof88]

Agree with pp : buy where you really want to stay & if that is WDW don't bank on being able to get reservation at 7 months with VB points.

Just one thing I want to mention regarding your two eldest kids - we thought our eldest two ( about same age as yours ) were starting to get bored with WDW too but then guess what ? they began inviting friends along ! and they are loving our trips more than ever !! Eventually they will no doubt want to make these trips just them & their friends. Soooo don't count 'em out just yet !!

Good luck on your decision

PS - We're 88 fans too ! Eldest two & friends just got back from Dover - not a great day for Jr.

You hit the nail on the head. They say they are getting tired but they still go every year........... We can go anytime of the year as I homeschool our youngest so it isn't a matter of when. Now that being said I do not want to go during summer months. I just know we have spent way more than buy in price on the vacations we have taken, even with staying off property most of the trips.

So I really need to look at on site. I don't want to get locked out . That would be to horrible .

PS My 88 is actually old school for Dale Jarrett. I have had the SN for about 7 years now. But, I like Jr too so it just blended right in . I am just glad Kyle had a bad day .

 

[Rileygirl]

I would highly suggest you take the link that Donald#1 gave you.

Why? because in resell, the prices listed for contracts are 'asking' prices, not the price you have to pay. Many SSR contracts are easily going through at the 75-78 mark, some even lower. Donalds thread shows a list of who bought what resort at what price, and also if the contracts that were ROFR'd by disney.

This thread gives you an idea of 'fair market value' that is in play today. This thread is one of the most valuable tools on the dis boards if one is going to buy resell. The other most valuable tool is your resell broker. Get a good one. They will be able to tell you what fair market value is, and also discuss closing cost &mf negotiations. We used Jaki and **** at **********.com, and they were absolutely fantastic. Also, many Disers use the timeshare store, they are a sponsor of this board, there is a link at the top of this forum board for them.

It most certainly is a 'buyers market' right now, a great time to buy into DVC if you are looking too. There are some great deals out there.

One other word of advice: read all the threads on here regarding resells -- to figure out if you are getting a deal, you need to understand about points, whether or not the contract is stripped, who pays MF, as to whether or not you get a better deal then going direct through Disney.

Good Luck and pixie dust to ya

 

[cogero]

PS My 88 is actually old school for Dale Jarrett. I have had the SN for about 7 years now. But, I like Jr too so it just blended right in . I am just glad Kyle had a bad day .

Totally OT but I agree. We are rooting for anyone but Kyle right now LOL

 

[racefanof88]

I would highly suggest you take the link that Donald#1 gave you.

Why? because in resell, the prices listed for contracts are 'asking' prices, not the price you have to pay. Many SSR contracts are easily going through at the 75-78 mark, some even lower. Donalds thread shows a list of who bought what resort at what price, and also if the contracts that were ROFR'd by disney.

This thread gives you an idea of 'fair market value' that is in play today. This thread is one of the most valuable tools on the dis boards if one is going to buy resell. The other most valuable tool is your resell broker. Get a good one. They will be able to tell you what fair market value is, and also discuss closing cost &mf negotiations. We used Jaki and **** at **********.com, and they were absolutely fantastic. Also, many Disers use the timeshare store, they are a sponsor of this board, there is a link at the top of this forum board for them.

It most certainly is a 'buyers market' right now, a great time to buy into DVC if you are looking too. There are some great deals out there.

One other word of advice: read all the threads on here regarding resells -- to figure out if you are getting a deal, you need to understand about points, whether or not the contract is stripped, who pays MF, as to whether or not you get a better deal then going direct through Disney.

Good Luck and pixie dust to ya

Thank you for the advice. Donald's thread is very good. I am trying to get as educated on this as I can because this will help me sell it to my husband.

I am watching the Travel Channel program about the DVC now............lol.

 

[racefanof88]

Totally OT but I agree. We are rooting for anyone but Kyle right now LOL

 

[Rileygirl]

Another super, super useful tool that is available on the disboards is Caskbill's DVC planner.

Caskbill is a moderator on these forums. He created a program where you can just plug in the dates and the room type of each DVC resort, and it tells you how many points that vacation will need. I played around on it for hours, changing DVC resorts, dates, lenghths of stay, room types,,, it really helped me figure out the question on 'how many points' did I think I would need.

There is a link to his dvc planner on all of his posts. It only took about 1 minute to download. I also suggest you do the little tutorial thing at the beginning so you know how to use the dvc planner.

the BLT is not on Caskbill's planner yet, but if you are buying resell, that wont matter (no BLT resells out there yet! lol) Also, no treehouse selection for room catagory at SSR -- due to the same reason, its just been announced. I believe I read that it has been officially announced that the treehouses at SSR will cost the same point wise, as a 2bedroom at SSR.

HTH

 

[racefanof88]

Another super, super useful tool that is available on the disboards is Caskbill's DVC planner.

Caskbill is a moderator on these forums. He created a program where you can just plug in the dates and the room type of each DVC resort, and it tells you how many points that vacation will need. I played around on it for hours, changing DVC resorts, dates, lenghths of stay, room types,,, it really helped me figure out the question on 'how many points' did I think I would need.

There is a link to his dvc planner on all of his posts. It only took about 1 minute to download. I also suggest you do the little tutorial thing at the beginning so you know how to use the dvc planner.

the BLT is not on Caskbill's planner yet, but if you are buying resell, that wont matter (no BLT resells out there yet! lol) Also, no treehouse selection for room catagory at SSR -- due to the same reason, its just been announced. I believe I read that it has been officially announced that the treehouses at SSR will cost the same point wise, as a 2bedroom at SSR.

HTH

I am just so excited about all this .

 

[5forDiz]

Also want to mention in case you aren't familiar with this, banking and borrowing of points :

lets say you buy a 100 point contract with September Use Year; you can bank your 100 pts from Sept 2008 Use Year into Sept 2009 Use Year and that would give you 200 points to use from Sept. 1, 2009 - Aug. 31, 2010.
( if you continued banking/using points in this way then you would have 200 points available to use ' every other year ' )

Also, you can do all mentioned above and borrow your 100 pts from Sept 2010 Use Year into Sept 2009 Use Year which would give you 300 points to use from Sept. 1, 2009 - Aug. 31, 2010.
(if you continued banking & borrowing/using points in this way then you would have 300 points available to use ' every three years ' )

Excellent advice on resales, planning charts from pps . Not sure if this was mentioned so forgive me if it was : when you buy a resale contract you can purchase any size resale contract ( even small 25 or 50 point contracts) to become a member of DVC. Then you can do add-on contracts as time goes on if you find that you & your family need more points. You can buy your add-on contracts directly through Disney ( 25 point minimum add-on purchase) or you can go back to the resale market and purchase additional contract for more points there.

So maybe start off with not such a large contract and as time goes on see what your family really needs for total number of points.

Also, you had asked a question about how many people to room(s) - there is an Occupancy thread that is very good to read and you can discuss this subject there too.

 

[racefanof88]

Also want to mention in case you aren't familiar with this, banking and borrowing of points :

lets say you buy a 100 point contract with September Use Year; you can bank your 100 pts from Sept 2008 Use Year into Sept 2009 Use Year and that would give you 200 points to use from Sept. 1, 2009 - Aug. 31, 2010.
( if you continued banking/using points in this way then you would have 200 points available to use ' every other year ' )

Also, you can do all mentioned above and borrow your 100 pts from Sept 2010 Use Year into Sept 2009 Use Year which would give you 300 points to use from Sept. 1, 2009 - Aug. 31, 2010.
(if you continued banking & borrowing/using points in this way then you would have 300 points available to use ' every three years ' )

Excellent advice on resales, planning charts from pps . Not sure if this was mentioned so forgive me if it was : when you buy a resale contract you can purchase any size resale contract ( even small 25 or 50 point contracts) to become a member of DVC. Then you can do add-on contracts as time goes on if you find that you & your family need more points. You can buy your add-on contracts directly through Disney ( 25 point minimum add-on purchase) or you can go back to the resale market and purchase additional contract for more points there.

So maybe start off with not such a large contract and as time goes on see what your family really needs for total number of points.

Also, you had asked a question about how many people to room(s) - there is an Occupancy thread that is very good to read and you can discuss this subject there too.

Good point. Brought up a new question for me.......lol. Say I have 100 points from Sept. 2008 but I need 200 more. Do I have to wait until Sept 2009 to borrow the points from the next year? Can I borrow 2010's points at anytime of the year or does it have to be my month to do so? And can I borrow points or buy points from another DVC member? Sometimes my brother has extra points(not always, he is greedy like that..... )can he "give" me his points if he is going to loose them? I know I am asking questions that have probably been answered a million times.......lol.

 

[vandy]

Good point. Brought up a new question for me.......lol. Say I have 100 points from Sept. 2008 but I need 200 more. Do I have to wait until Sept 2009 to borrow the points from the next year? Can I borrow 2010's points at anytime of the year or does it have to be my month to do so? And can I borrow points or buy points from another DVC member? Sometimes my brother has extra points(not always, he is greedy like that..... )can he "give" me his points if he is going to loose them? I know I am asking questions that have probably been answered a million times.......lol.

You can only borrow one year ahead, so let's say you have just been allotted your Sept 08 points, you can only borrow your Sept 09 points right now. You can borrow anytime after that point, but you cannot borrow any farther out than 12 months.

Yes, you can get points from another DVC member. The first way is to rent them. The only catch is that they need to make the reservation under your name and it would need to be linked with the reservation you make with your points. The other way is to have that member transfer points into your account. DVC members can only do this once a year so many are hesitant to do so. This is what your brother would need to do if he was going to lose them.

Keep asking questions!!!

 

[racefanof88]

You can only borrow one year ahead, so let's say you have just been allotted your Sept 08 points, you can only borrow your Sept 09 points right now. You can borrow anytime after that point, but you cannot borrow any farther out than 12 months.

Yes, you can get points from another DVC member. The first way is to rent them. The only catch is that they need to make the reservation under your name and it would need to be linked with the reservation you make with your points. The other way is to have that member transfer points into your account. DVC members can only do this once a year so many are hesitant to do so. This is what your brother would need to do if he was going to lose them.

Keep asking questions!!!

WOW thank you . This is very helpful. I like SSR and AKV. I am not sure which I would want to buy into...........lol. VB seems to be selling at lower cost than any other points, but I don't want to buy into VB and not be able to get into one of the on site resorts. I like the idea that SSR and AKV leases run longer too.

How do I have to pay my mf? Are they due the same month my points are awarded? Do I have to pay them all at once or do I pay them monthly? And I know I have read this somewhere but I can't remember for sure, but would I get a discount on APs? And is the DDE really worth the cost? I know they add the 18% automatically and with the price of membership is there really any savings? Do DVC members qualify for emhs?

I don't know that my brother would ever lose any of his points, I was just gonna tell him that would be a very good Christmas gift for his little sister....... As I previously posted, he bought in many years ago and was given so many years of APs as an incentive from Disney. He doesn't get the admission anymore.

I know we would come more often if we had APs and DVC points to use . That is my plan

 

[bookswin]

Using reasonable assumptions about interest rates, Vero points are not the cheapest over time, because maintenance is the highest of any DVC resort.

Almost $2 a point per year more than SSR.

Check the math carefully.

 

[Rileygirl]

DVC members do get a discount on AP's, and PAP's. This is a 'perk'. However, as many diser's note, dont buy because of perks, as they have a way of coming and going, you cannot depend on them always being here.

If AKL is a resort you want to buy into --- resell will probably NOT be cheaper then Disney. You really have to work the numbers on this. Right now, Disney just ended a very nice AKL incentive package on Sept 21. There is some speculation that Disney will have to tie a couple of pork chops around AKL's neck once BLT goes on sale to the General public on Oct 5th. If AKL is the place you want, I would hold off for a month and see if Disney sweetens the deal with some really good incentives. The resells for AKL on the big sites are generally contracts asking for 94 bucks a point, and they are stripped contracts! Bad deal.

If SSR is your resort of choice - resell may end up being a great choice for you. They are currently going for 20-30 less a point then what disney wants to sell it to you (101 I think).

MF's ARE a big part of the cost. A resort with a high MF can outweigh the savings of buying the points at a lower cost. Fortunately, SSR has one of the lowest MF's. (BLT is actually lower MF-- BUT it costs MORE Points per night per room, so essentially, the MF is quite high, there are a couple of good threads explaining this on the boards right now).

Things to consider when selecting your home resort: Location, transportation, themeing, dining, amenities, MF's, type of rooms (some DVC's have grand villas, others dont have any) number of people in a room (Only AKL and supposedly BLT will have sleeping accomadations for 5 in a one bedroom, thats a significant savings on pts!)

IMHO- there are no bad DVC's, its more about picking the one that is 'most right' for your family.

I am just so excited about all this .

Me too! We just passed rofr on our BCV resell contract, we are now waiting to close!

 

[vandy]

WOW thank you . This is very helpful. I like SSR and AKV. I am not sure which I would want to buy into...........lol. VB seems to be selling at lower cost than any other points, but I don't want to buy into VB and not be able to get into one of the on site resorts. I like the idea that SSR and AKV leases run longer too.

How do I have to pay my mf? Are they due the same month my points are awarded? Do I have to pay them all at once or do I pay them monthly? And I know I have read this somewhere but I can't remember for sure, but would I get a discount on APs? And is the DDE really worth the cost? I know they add the 18% automatically and with the price of membership is there really any savings? Do DVC members qualify for emhs?

I don't know that my brother would ever lose any of his points, I was just gonna tell him that would be a very good Christmas gift for his little sister....... As I previously posted, he bought in many years ago and was given so many years of APs as an incentive from Disney. He doesn't get the admission anymore.

I know we would come more often if we had APs and DVC points to use . That is my plan

I would advise against buying at VB just because the price per point is low. Over the length of your membership, the fees you pay will be more than your intitial buy-in, so if you are not needing the extra booking window at VB, just buy at WDW. SSR right now has the lowest fees at $4.21/pt.

Fees are assessed in January. You can pay them all at once, or pay monthly. Right now, DVC members receive a $100 discount on APs. This is a perk that can go away at any time, but for the last several years, this discount has been in place. Can't help you on the DDE question. We use our kitchen in our 2br villa so we don't use any dining plan.

One thing I forgot to mention about transferring points: you can only do it one time per year and that goes for both parties, in or out. You cannot have several people transfer into your account within a year.

 

[5forDiz]

Totally OT but I agree. We are rooting for anyone but Kyle right now LOL

We second ( or third ) that ! & to OP, we too rooted for Dale Jarrett - a class act for sure !


The question about borrowing points . . .pp is correct - you can only borrow one year ahead but that does not delay your ability to make your reservation.

So if for example if on Oct. 15 2008 you want to utilize your Home Resort's
11 month booking advantage for trip that will take place on Sept 15 2009, and you need to use your Sept 2008 & Sept 2009 & Sept 2010 Use Year points to do this, you can call MS on Oct 15 2008 and set up that reservation even though your Sept 2010 Use Year points technically do not borrow in to your Sept 2009 Use Year now.

I don't know if I'm explaining this well - perhaps others here can clarify it better.

 

[racefanof88]

[/QUOTE] Me too! We just passed rofr on our BCV resell contract, we are now waiting to close![/QUOTE]

Congrats .