Purchase Not Finance DVC

[RoseGold]

Huge point difference in studio and 1BR. And massive point difference between summer and Christmas . So, depends on what you mean by "cook" and what size/season you are buying for.

 

[sethschroeder]

two weeks in July/Aug is around 380 points

Try 400-500 (with a couple higher or lower) for the most flexibility. This is a 2 week period in July for 2024 summer.

View	Resort	One Bedroom
Value	Animal Kingdom	306​
Standard View	BoardWalk Villas	374​
Standard View	Old Key West	380​
Standard View	Animal Kingdom	390​
Standard View	Saratoga Springs	412​
Standard View	Bay Lake Tower	466​
Preferred	Saratoga Springs	468​
Savanna View	Animal Kingdom	484​
Standard View	CCV at Wilderness Lodge	492​
Standard View	BRV at Wilderness Lodge	496​
Standard View	Beach Club Villas	502​
Preferred View	BoardWalk Villas	506​
Lake View	Bay Lake Tower	536​
Standard View	Disney's Riviera Resort	552​
Standard View	Grand Floridian	602​
Club Level	Animal Kingdom​	640​
Theme Park View	Bay Lake Tower	662​
Preferred View	Disney's Riviera Resort	712​
Lake View	Grand Floridian	718​

 

[sethschroeder]

Huge point difference in studio and 1BR. And massive point difference between summer and Christmas . So, depends on what you mean by "cook" and what size/season you are buying for.

Good point when I hear cook (its not just a microwave but a stove as well) that requires a 1 Bedroom.

You can get by for less in a studio but then you need to give up on the idea of cooking a real meal and you are left with a microwave.

 

[RoseGold]

Good point when I hear cook (its not just a microwave but a stove as well) that requires a 1 Bedroom.

I have a Mickey waffle maker in my owner's locker, which works in a studio just as well.

The jump is so big it might be worth getting creative in the cooking, or only cooking some of the trip.

 

[sethschroeder]

ballpark figure/goal to shoot for in my savings.

Really easy I would go for $110/points

Summer:
200 points for a Studio
450 points for a 1BR

$22k Studio
$49.5k 1BR


You could start though with less points like 100-150 to start with on a first contract once you can buy it outright and then add-on in the future once you get the points.

Additionally when buying some contracts will be "loaded" meaning they will be 150 point contracts but have 300 points to use in the first year. This is a great way for you to get some extra points to start until you can afford another contract.


EDIT: This is all just simple budget to get you started. Way way way more to talk about once you get close to possibly buying your first contract of lets say 100 points for around $11k.

 

[CVG]

Try 400-500 (with a couple higher or lower) for the most flexibility. This is a 2 week period in July for 2024 summer.

View	Resort	One Bedroom
Value	Animal Kingdom	306​
Standard View	BoardWalk Villas	374​
Standard View	Old Key West	380​
Standard View	Animal Kingdom	390​
Standard View	Saratoga Springs	412​
Standard View	Bay Lake Tower	466​
Preferred	Saratoga Springs	468​
Savanna View	Animal Kingdom	484​
Standard View	CCV at Wilderness Lodge	492​
Standard View	BRV at Wilderness Lodge	496​
Standard View	Beach Club Villas	502​
Preferred View	BoardWalk Villas	506​
Lake View	Bay Lake Tower	536​
Standard View	Disney's Riviera Resort	552​
Standard View	Grand Floridian	602​
Club Level	​ Animal Kingdom​	640​
Theme Park View	Bay Lake Tower	662​
Preferred View	Disney's Riviera Resort	712​
Lake View	Grand Floridian	718​

380 (OKW) like I said. Especially given the instruction that location didn't matter.

 

[robinb]

Christmas means you’ll need to be choosy.

Not really. Christmas means you need to be prepared to book at start of the 11-month window.

 

[sethschroeder]

380 (OKW) like I said. Especially given the instruction that location didn't matter.

I was taking it as they were trying to get a budget range of what to prepare for. So I was calling out that 380 would be locking them out of most resorts.

 

[soniam]

Also, are you looking to buy direct or resale? You can look at the board sponsor and other DVC resale sites to get an idea of what resale points cost. The DVC website should have point costs for the direct stuff, but I could be wrong.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

Also, are you looking to buy direct or resale? You can look at the board sponsor and other DVC resale sites to get an idea of what resale points cost. The DVC website should have point costs for the direct stuff, but I could be wrong.

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

 

[CVG]

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

Yes. You need to buy direct, spending multiple thousands of dollars extra, to get the 10% discount card (well a little bit better than that). See the official DVC site for all those benefits and work out if you would get that back over the course of your trips. None of the benefits are guaranteed as far as I'm aware.

 

[Matty B13]

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

Please, please spend at least the rest of the week researching DVC on the DVC boards here and get to truly understand what you are buying. Resale right now will save you thousands of dollars over direct with the current pricing. It is a great time to be in the market for resale points, I only have 50 points direct, the rest are resale points. Make sure you understand UY, MF's, and the resort you like the most. Don't rush into this, with the way the market is right now don't get FOMO and make a rash decision.

 

[tom1944]

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

Learn about the benefits and decide how important they are to you

 

[tom1944]

Also it might sound crazy but we found it helped to run vacation scenarios through our head.

When would we go most likely August, November, December or March
How often up to a week most every year
Always Florida no we would try Hilton Head
Always WDW parks no we would stay at Disney and do the other parks on certain trips


To us that meant price far outweighed discounts and other benefits

 

[Sandisw]

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

There are differences between direct and resale. Those differences may or may not be important to you as a buyer.

For us, they are. But for others they are not,

First, there is where your points can be used. Resale points purchased today can not be used for stays at RIV…except resale RIv which are only good there…and future resorts. That will most likely include VDH and possibly the new Poly tower. If they continue with this path, it could also include whatever resorts replace those expiring in 2042.

Second is the access to the membership extras, which is referred to DVC-Y or the blue card, Those are incidental benefits and not guaranteed. Buying resale excludes you and buying direct gives you access to whatever those are.

Right now, that includes discounts on merchandise and food, access special events and when/if sales return, access to the AP Sorcerer Pass.

To qualify for membership extras, you need 150 points direct and those will be good everywhere. Some will buy that minimum so they have the benefits and points good everywhere, and then add on more points resale because being locked out of RIV and the future resorts doesn’t really matter.

Depending on the resort you want, the savings may very well outweigh the benefits of direct…but, I think that buying the resort you want to be at if you can’t trade at 7 months should be the first decision and go from there.

 

[soniam]

I. Don't. Know. This is all so confusing to me.

If I understand correctly, resale may be cheaper but you lose benefits?

The price difference could be $10,000+, depending upon how many points you buy and whether yuh would use the benefits. This was the case for us for 150 points at Boardwalk. Definitely do your research.

 

[Huskerpaul]

Not choosy about a "home" resort, and I need a ballpark figure/goal to shoot for in my savings.

We like to go for 2 weeks and since I'm a teacher, summer or Christmas vacation are my options.

I found resale with the significant savings the way to go. I figured I saved $20,000 buying resale instead of direct. It takes a lot of 10% discounts, free afterhours parties (if you happen to be staying at WDW during one), and micky ice cream bars to achieve that kind of savings. But others find real value in having a Blue Card.

I would encourage you to keep saving and pay cash whichever path you choose. Then if some emergency happens and you need to tap into those savings, you can just start saving again. Take a loan to buy DVC and then have an emergency happen and you will wish you had saved up to pay cash instead.

 

[Bucketfoot]

To start, I agree 100% with not financing DVC if that is something you can do.

On the direct/resale aspect we opted to buy direct first (VGF). One, we bought with the condition that we would be able to book a short notice stay (4 months) as a part of the purchase. Two, I personally belive that Disney will be adding benefits that are only good for blue card members (possibly even not grandfathering in early resale contracts).

We intend to buy VDH direct as well, but recently purchased AKV resale and will buy anything else resale (the wife is really starting to contemplate BWV after our stay there).

I would also consider a smaller number of points at two resorts and banking/borrowing points so that you can rotate between two resorts. Unless of course there is someplace that you really love.