purchasing a resort with lower buy in and taking chances with 7 mth window at VGC

[Jperiod]

Ideally, we want to own and stay at VGC. I thought of buying a second cheaper contract to switch my points around at 7 months and rent out the VGC points. I was gonna buy at a second place we'd likely stay sometimes too (Aulani).

But then I got to looking at the prices on resorts like vero beach and OKW extended, and running the numbers in years to break even on the difference in maintenance fees/purchase price.

And instead of starting with VGC and adding a second resort, I thought of just starting with a cheaper buy-in resort and take my chances with the 7 month availability until we found the right VGC contract.

So I guess the question is, how's the inventory first thing at 7 months for VGC these days? We'd do 7 nights in a 1 bedroom the week after Thanksgiving.

Anyone else try for a similar strategy? How'd it work out for you?

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you want to stay mainly at GCV, you need to own there. It's the smallest DVC resort and only has limited availability at seven months out. If you don't mind not staying there when you want to go there and booking something for cash and not using points, buy anywhere you want.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You will very rarely get something at VGC that week at 7 months.

 

[Just Peachy]

I thought about doing the same thing you are proposing a few years back but I followed the room availability tools for a while and found that it was almost impossible to get rooms (although the 1BR suites seem to go last) inside of 7 months for any times except the "Adventure" season. In the end, I purchased at VGC.

 

[Dean]

Ideally, we want to own and stay at VGC. I thought of buying a second cheaper contract to switch my points around at 7 months and rent out the VGC points. I was gonna buy at a second place we'd likely stay sometimes too (Aulani).

But then I got to looking at the prices on resorts like vero beach and OKW extended, and running the numbers in years to break even on the difference in maintenance fees/purchase price.

And instead of starting with VGC and adding a second resort, I thought of just starting with a cheaper buy-in resort and take my chances with the 7 month availability until we found the right VGC contract.

So I guess the question is, how's the inventory first thing at 7 months for VGC these days? We'd do 7 nights in a 1 bedroom the week after Thanksgiving.

Anyone else try for a similar strategy? How'd it work out for you?

It depends on what you're trying to accomplish and how many points you want/need. If your main goal is to stay at VGC most of the time I'd just buy there or not at all. If you're trying to buy points for what you need there AND other points for WDW, I might buy both or still just VGC depending on volume. But I'd certainly buy the VGC first so you'll have more flexibility as to # of points and UY unless you decided to buy VGF as the other resort then I'd look for both and decide based on what was found.

 

[Littlelulu01]

Aulani is a much less expensive resale option but most of the year it's fairly easy to get something there at 7 months. Maintenance fees at Aulani are much higher than GCV unless you purchase subsidized which is much harder to find resale.

GCV rooms are extremely hard to come by 7 months. If you can do midweek one bedroom you will have better luck. The only time I've got a dvc room at GCV was at about the 30 day mark or if stalking the rat constantly.

If you want to primarily stay there I'd purchase GCV points. If you plan on mixing it up, Aulani is readily available resale. You could purchase the GCV first and then easily find an Aulani resale to match up to the GCV points. Btw I just tried to add on direct GCV. There's no points available and no waitlist. I'm sure this is what drives the resale so darned high.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Because you have a very specific time you want to stay at VGC I don't feel it's a good strategy.

 

[chalee94]

It's the smallest DVC resort...

some stats from the DVC Resource Center thread for comparison if numbers help make this clear:

OKW - 0 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 274 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 230 Lockoffs - 27 Grand Villas = 531 Villas / 761 Max. Available

BWV - 97 Dedicated Studios - 130 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 0 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 149 Lockoffs - 7 Grand Villas = 383 Villas / 532 Max. Available

BCV - 36 Dedicated Studios - 20 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 78 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 74 Lockoffs - 0 Grand Villas = 208 VIllas / 282 Max. Available

SSR - 0 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 360 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 432 Lockoffs - 60 THV - 36 Grand Villas = 888 Villas / 1320 Max. Available

AKV - 46 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1BR villas - 140 Dedicated 2BR villas - 250 Lockoffs - 22 GVs. 134 villas within Jambo House at AKL (46 Dedicated Studios, 82 Lockoff 2BRs, 6 GVs) and 324 villas in Kidani Village (140 Dedicated 2BRs, 168 Lockoff 2BRs, 16 GVs) for a total of 458 Villas / 708 Max. Available

BLT - 0 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1BR villas - 148 Dedicated 2BR villas - 133 Lockoffs - 14 Grand Villas = 295 Villas / 428 Max. Available

PVB - 288 Standard Studios - 72 Lakeview Studios - 20 Bungalows = 380 villas/ 380 Max. Available

VGC - 0 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1BR villas - 23 Dedicated 2BR villas - 23 Lockoffs - 2 Grand Villas = 48 Villas / 71 Max. Available

 

[Jperiod]

So after comparing the buy-in cost, the maint fees, and contract lengths per point owned, it looks like my original plan of buying a subsidized aulani contract (as the second resort) is actually cheaper than other resorts with lower buy-in! LOL

I guess I'll have to be patient and wait for the right contracts. I was just anxious to own now. Thanks for entertaining my fantasy!

 

[zavandor]

It depends if you're flexible with your travel dates and which room do you want.
Studios are VERY difficult to get any time of the year. I got problems to book a studio in January, one of the lowest time. You may find limited availability with nights missing in the middle of the stay and have to try your luck with waitlist. Not absolutely impossible, but can be frustrating. If you need to travel on specific dates, I wouldn't do it, if it's more: "I'll stalk the website and take the first days I can get", then you could succeed to patch something.
Dedicated 2 bedrooms and just slightly easier, while 1 bedrooms are the easiest to get.

Forget week ends or special events like Disney convention, it's not going to happen, ever.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

And "easiest" is still relative at VGC. They are not easy, just least hard.

 

[mousefan1972]

Ideally, we want to own and stay at VGC. I thought of buying a second cheaper contract to switch my points around at 7 months and rent out the VGC points.

Kind of surprised no one has commented on this. What you want to do is not allowed. You cannot "switch around" points at the 7 month window, because that's circumventing the home resort priority rule. You're only allowed to reallocate points if the resort and room type you have booked is still available. To put it differently, VGC would have to be available at the 7 month window in order to do what you're trying to do. So, yeah. Not gonna work.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Kind of surprised no one has commented on this. What you want to do is not allowed. You cannot "switch around" points at the 7 month window, because that's circumventing the home resort priority rule. You're only allowed to reallocate points if the resort and room type you have booked is still available. To put it differently, VGC would have to be available at the 7 month window in order to do what you're trying to do. So, yeah. Not gonna work.

Good catch.

 

[Jperiod]

Kind of surprised no one has commented on this. What you want to do is not allowed. You cannot "switch around" points at the 7 month window, because that's circumventing the home resort priority rule. You're only allowed to reallocate points if the resort and room type you have booked is still available. To put it differently, VGC would have to be available at the 7 month window in order to do what you're trying to do. So, yeah. Not gonna work.

Wow! Really? I never knew! Seems I've read of points being switched here and there, but had no clue there was a formal rule agaist. That definitely changes things!

 

[mousefan1972]

Wow! Really? I never knew! Seems I've read of points being switched here and there, but had no clue there was a formal rule agaist. That definitely changes things!

Usually "switching points" tends to happen with banked/borrowed points from the same home resort. For example, if I book a trip at the 11 month window and then later bank points into that UY, I can reallocate the points as long as they are all from the same home resort. It's when you're trying to get around the home resort priority rule by switching points within 7 months that DVC says no.

Good luck, I hope you find a contract that works for you!

 

[Dean]

Wow! Really? I never knew! Seems I've read of points being switched here and there, but had no clue there was a formal rule agaist. That definitely changes things!

There are ways to do it at or after the 7 month window but there ultimately has to be some availability to do so. Basically you'd use the non home resort points to get any days available or by wait list and substitute them into the reservation. While not technically being directly swapped for home resort points, it accomplishes the same goal. I'm not sure VGC is the best place to try much of that though. You should buy the points you want for VGC there but consider other options for other DVC resorts.

 

[bwvBound]

Tossing an idea for group comment: What about seeking to Rent/Transfer-in VGC points for use during the home resort advantage? Assuming the OP buys in "anywhere" to get their foot in the door, might it be likely that they could find sufficient points for Transfer in a timely, consistent, fashion?

 

[Sandisw]

Tossing an idea for group comment: What about seeking to Rent/Transfer-in VGC points for use during the home resort advantage? Assuming the OP buys in "anywhere" to get their foot in the door, might it be likely that they could find sufficient points for Transfer in a timely, consistent, fashion?

Yes, you are allowed one transfer in or out per UY. So, if someone offered VGC points for transfer, they could get them and use them to book VGC during home resort period. The tricky part is finding someone who has them and since most who buy VGC do so to stay there, I don't know how often you would find them. I think the key to remember with points is that the points have the resort priority and not the owner. So, if a reservation is booked with VGC points during home priority, only VGC points can be used in that reservation. At 7 months, as mentioned, any days still available can be booked with other points and then a call to MS can help you streamline the newly booked nights with the old if they are on the ends of the current reservation. What would be difficult is to find days in the middle as I don't believe MS can split an originally booked reservation.

Best advice is always buy where you want to stay, if you have a particular place in mind for many trips. With VGC being a stand alone spot, I'd own there if I want to stay there because really, if it isn't available, then you have no other DVC options.

 

[Dean]

Tossing an idea for group comment: What about seeking to Rent/Transfer-in VGC points for use during the home resort advantage? Assuming the OP buys in "anywhere" to get their foot in the door, might it be likely that they could find sufficient points for Transfer in a timely, consistent, fashion?

I doubt it'd be a good long term plan but it might work for every few years. One of the issues would still be getting a reservation since one would likely have to call MS rather than reserve on the website. Plus periodic transfers would negate much or all of the savings of owning cheaper points elsewhere. But it really depends on how where the OP is planning to reserve across the board. I didn't pick up how consistently they want VGC vs HI vs other and what the volume or frequency of each would be. And ultimately that will answer the question at hand assuming they are a good fit for owning DVC in general.

 

[CarolMN]

Tossing an idea for group comment: What about seeking to Rent/Transfer-in VGC points for use during the home resort advantage? Assuming the OP buys in "anywhere" to get their foot in the door, might it be likely that they could find sufficient points for Transfer in a timely, consistent, fashion?

IMO, that would be a tough find, especially if one were looking to do it on a regular basis It's rare to see VGC points for transfer on the DIS R/T Board (I realize there are other places to find points, but I believe the DIS R/T Board is typical of what's generally available out there). A cursory search of the R/T Board revealed only one 2017 thread offering to transfer VGC points. IMO, most who have VGC points use them at VGC for their own stays.