Purchasing DVC - how many points???

[Dizneefamily+4]

So we've received the Fed Ex packet and read through all the DVC propaganda. I've perused the DVC boards. We're starting to get serious about purchasing. I know that your number of points depends on the amount of your investment.

My question is how many points do you get at say the minimum investment? And then how much more is the next level and how many points are allotted then? I just haven't found anywhere that explains this, and I'm not quite ready yet to call and ask. Thank you!

 

[Pirate Granny]

OK you need to read a bit more...check the charts and see how many points you would need in the size of unit you want...check out which DVC resort you want. Buy where you want to stay. So, the next level of investment depends on you...how many points you want/need/can afford. Will you travel every year, twice a year...factor in all your expenses.

Happy reading/Hunting

 

[rackle]

I'm pretty sure you can buy whatever amount of points you would like. The current minimum direct is 100 but special permission is usually granted for less points if requested. If you are buying resale, you have to take what you can find that works for you. Did your fedex package include the point charts for the resorts? If not, you can look them up online. To figure out the amount of points you need you'll have to figure out

- How often you want to stay?
- How long you want to stay?
- How big of a room you want to stay in?
- What time of year do you plan to stay?
- What resorts do you want to stay in?

For our family, we went with 250, we plan on doing a week every year in a 1-bedroom during summer break. Everywhere we want to stay ranges between 220-290. You'll also need to figure out which resort you want to be your home resort and depending on the resort whether buying resale vs. direct is the better option for you.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

I'm pretty sure you can buy whatever amount of points you would like. The current minimum direct is 100 but special permission is usually granted for less points if requested. If you are buying resale, you have to take what you can find that works for you. Did your fedex package include the point charts for the resorts? If not, you can look them up online. To figure out the amount of points you need you'll have to figure out

- How often you want to stay?
- How long you want to stay?
- How big of a room you want to stay in?
- What time of year do you plan to stay?
- What resorts do you want to stay in?

For our family, we went with 250, we plan on doing a week every year in a 1-bedroom during summer break. Everywhere we want to stay ranges between 220-290. You'll also need to figure out which resort you want to be your home resort and depending on the resort whether buying resale vs. direct is the better option for you.

Yep, we got the points chart. And actually, we're also leaning towards 250 points - like you, the places we want to stay are in that 220-300ish range. Dh is a teacher, so we usually travel in the summer. I just didn't know, from all the materials, if 250 was a minimum amount, or if it was more or less. The pp answered that by indicating that the minimum is 100 points. So, now I think I've got it - we CAN purchase at 250 points as its above the minimum.

Now we just need to figure out where we want home" to be. Pretty sure we're going to buy direct. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Yep, we got the points chart. And actually, we're also leaning towards 250 points - like you, the places we want to stay are in that 220-300ish range. Dh is a teacher, so we usually travel in the summer. I just didn't know, from all the materials, if 250 was a minimum amount, or if it was more or less. The pp answered that by indicating that the minimum is 100 points. So, now I think I've got it - we CAN purchase at 250 points as its above the minimum.

Now we just need to figure out where we want home" to be. Pretty sure we're going to buy direct. Thank you for the advice!

Any reason you are going to purchase direct from DVC?

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

Any reason you are going to purchase direct from DVC?

Only because then we can get what we want for sure. And I thought I'd read that in order to have access to the Disney and Concierge collections, you have to buy direct? Buying direct isn't set in stone, just what we're leaning towards. I'm open to suggestions as to the pros/cons of resale vs direct!

 

[disneynutz]

Only because then we can get what we want for sure. And I thought I'd read that in order to have access to the Disney and Concierge collections, you have to buy direct? Buying direct isn't set in stone, just what we're leaning towards. I'm open to suggestions as to the pros/cons of resale vs direct!

You are about 5% into a 100% learning experience. I recommend that you keep reading the DIS because posts just like yours happen a few times per week and I am sure that you have the same questions as others.

Disney is in business to sell direct.

You are buying a discounted room, no magic, Disney vacations are very expensive even as a DVC owner.

Disney advertises all of the great things that you can do with your points if you buy direct. Most are smoke and mirrors that you can experience more sucsessfully on your own and cheaper by paying cash.

Buying direct can cost you thousands extra compared to resale.

Each resort is a different experience so before you buy, check out the resorts and check out what is like to stay in a DVC room/resort.

DVC is designed for a 95% occupancy rate so depending on the time of year, resort, point season, and when you book, getting the room you want can be a challenge.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

Only because then we can get what we want for sure. And I thought I'd read that in order to have access to the Disney and Concierge collections, you have to buy direct? Buying direct isn't set in stone, just what we're leaning towards. I'm open to suggestions as to the pros/cons of resale vs direct!

You'll want to take a look at the points required for DVC stays and for non-DVC Disney stays. Big difference (a whole lot more for the non-DVC stays).

DVC tends to be an expensive timeshare program.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

You are about 5% into a 100% learning experience. I recommend that you keep reading the DIS because posts just like yours happen a few times per week and I am sure that you have the same questions as others.

Disney is in business to sell direct.

You are buying a discounted room, no magic, Disney vacations are very expensive even as a DVC owner.

Disney advertises all of the great things that you can do with your points if you buy direct. Most are smoke and mirrors that you can experience more sucsessfully on your own and cheaper by paying cash.

Buying direct can cost you thousands extra compared to resale.

Each resort is a different experience so before you buy, check out the resorts and check out what is like to stay in a DVC room/resort.

DVC is designed for a 95% occupancy rate so depending on the time of year, resort, point season, and when you book, getting the room you want can be a challenge.

Bill

I guess what I said came out wrong - I'm aware that the DVC vacations are subject to availability. I'm also QUITE aware of how expensive Disney vacations are as we go every year. I'm in the early stages if research. I'm also a regular DISer, so I came to the DVC boards to learn. I really don't appreciate the condescension. We'll be at the Poly in 4 weeks, and plan to tour the DVC at SSR. I'll continue to research. Trust me, we don't even buy a TV without tons of research.

 

[Msmithmd]

Diznee, you are in the right place. It took me about two months reading these boards before I decided finally where and how much to purchase. Resale was the right answer for me because I wanted the best financial advantage, and it truly saves a ton off of direct purchase. Of course, if your heart is set on VGF, you will have to buy that direct for at least the next year or so.

It is very important to understand how the points system works, including banking and borrowing, 7/11 month booking windows, and how the busy DVC time periods don't reflect the schedule of the busiest months for the parks in general. If you do get a really good grasp on all of this, then buying in can be a great benefit. My family is very happy with the product.

As others have said, beware the marketing smoke and mirrors about the concierge collection and cruising. Both are great vacations; my family also loves the Polynesian. But both- as well as other "exchange out" options- are very expensive in terms of the points they will cost.

Probably the most important advice I would offer is, whether you finally decide to buy direct or resale, do so with cash- not a loan. The interest rates that are charged are very steep: 11%-15% even with good credit. Paying these rates over the course of a ten year loan very seriously degrades any financial benefit you get in buying DVC, versus simply continuing to stay on cash reservations.

If your timeline isn't too urgent, I would recommend you stay on rental points at the property you are most interested in buying to confirm your choice. It's a good excuse for a vacation destination, and for 200+ points, you are talking about an investment of $12k-$30k depending on resort and purchase method. That's a new car cost. Few of us would buy a new car without test driving it first. So if you can, test drive DVC before committing. Good luck...

 

[DVC Mike]

I guess what I said came out wrong - I'm aware that the DVC vacations are subject to availability. I'm also QUITE aware of how expensive Disney vacations are as we go every year. I'm in the early stages if research. I'm also a regular DISer, so I came to the DVC boards to learn. I really don't appreciate the condescension. We'll be at the Poly in 4 weeks, and plan to tour the DVC at SSR. I'll continue to research. Trust me, we don't even buy a TV without tons of research.

Good luck with your research and decision making. I am glad I purchased DVC!

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

Diznee, you are in the right place. It took me about two months reading these boards before I decided finally where and how much to purchase. Resale was the right answer for me because I wanted the best financial advantage, and it truly saves a ton off of direct purchase. Of course, if your heart is set on VGF, you will have to buy that direct for at least the next year or so.

It is very important to understand how the points system works, including banking and borrowing, 7/11 month booking windows, and how the busy DVC time periods don't reflect the schedule of the busiest months for the parks in general. If you do get a really good grasp on all of this, then buying in can be a great benefit. My family is very happy with the product.

As others have said, beware the marketing smoke and mirrors about the concierge collection and cruising. Both are great vacations; my family also loves the Polynesian. But both- as well as other "exchange out" options- are very expensive in terms of the points they will cost.

Probably the most important advice I would offer is, whether you finally decide to buy direct or resale, do so with cash- not a loan. The interest rates that are charged are very steep: 11%-15% even with good credit. Paying these rates over the course of a ten year loan very seriously degrades any financial benefit you get in buying DVC, versus simply continuing to stay on cash reservations.

If your timeline isn't too urgent, I would recommend you stay on rental points at the property you are most interested in buying to confirm your choice. It's a good excuse for a vacation destination, and for 200+ points, you are talking about an investment of $12k-$30k depending on resort and purchase method. That's a new car cost. Few of us would buy a new car without test driving it first. So if you can, test drive DVC before committing. Good luck...

Thank you for the excellent advice! We have talked about renting points for our next trip to try it out. There's definitely no rush - other than if we do this, I'd rather do it before TOO many more trips go by! We'd also already decided to buy with cash. My dh hates to finance anything! Again, thanks for the advice and I'll definitely keep researching!

 

[lovin'fl]

You can buy 100 or more direct as a new owner...as a member, you can add on 25 point contracts. Resale, you can buy whatever is out there...25+. We started with 200 and have since added on to have 425 now. Resale is cheaper than direct. Here is the direct pricing (though you probably already have it) http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions. Here is a link to some resale contracts that us Dis folks have purchased (to give you an idea of what prices resale contracts pass ROFR at) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3001288&page=162. Buying resale takes about 2 months. Though buying direct (at the older resorts) has a wait list sometimes that can take several months too (though if you buy the new resorts, like VGF, then you get your points right away). Both resale and direct charge closing costs now (direct is a tad less than resale, but climbing). If you want to stay strictly at a resort that is tough to book at 7 months out, then buy there (VGF likely will be tough...BCV can be tough...HH and VB are tough in the warmer months and at Thanksgiving...certain views and concierge level is tough at the various resorts...etc- smaller resorts are tougher to book). If you are cool with any of the resorts and/or like to switch things up each trip (as we kind of are...we have preferences, but are happy to make any resort work and have been lucky to try almost all of them out since 2006...will have tried all East coast but VGF by this Dec)....then it doesn't matter as much what resort you buy and you should go for best deal (SSR is best WDW deal going). Good luck on your route to DVC ownership.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

You can buy 100 or more direct as a new owner...as a member, you can add on 25 point contracts. Resale, you can buy whatever is out there...25+. We started with 200 and have since added on to have 425 now. Resale is cheaper than direct. Here is the direct pricing (though you probably already have it) http://www.dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/pricing-a-promotions. Here is a link to some resale contracts that us Dis folks have purchased (to give you an idea of what prices resale contracts pass ROFR at) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3001288&page=162. Buying resale takes about 2 months. Though buying direct (at the older resorts) has a wait list sometimes that can take several months too (though if you buy the new resorts, like VGF, then you get your points right away). Both resale and direct charge closing costs now (direct is a tad less than resale, but climbing). If you want to stay strictly at a resort that is tough to book at 7 months out, then buy there (VGF likely will be tough...BCV can be tough...HH and VB are tough in the warmer months and at Thanksgiving...certain views and concierge level is tough at the various resorts...etc- smaller resorts are tougher to book). If you are cool with any of the resorts and/or like to switch things up each trip (as we kind of are...we have preferences, but are happy to make any resort work and have been lucky to try almost all of them out since 2006...will have tried all East coast but VGF by this Dec)....then it doesn't matter as much what resort you buy and you should go for best deal (SSR is best WDW deal going). Good luck on your route to DVC ownership.

Thanks for the info!

 

[dbs1228]

We love our DVC, we too went every year and when I did the math I realized DVC was the right choice for us. Good luck!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

Just some key pieces to master if you haven't already--understand use year and figure out what month is best for your visits, visit a few resale sites to see the contracts for sale and their list prices, run the numbers of various properties you may consider paying special attention to the maintenance fees, which will constitute %80-90 of your total cost; initial purchase cost is only about %10-20. Consider buying two smaller contracts instead of one large one to allow you to downsize if you decide to if the Disney vacation regularity slows. Understand banking and borrowing--i.e. you can use up to 3 times your yearly allotment of points by pulling from the year before and after, but look into what happens to those points if you cancel. Make sure you understand the cancellation policies and the reservation process, and consider that unless you pay an additional fee , you get very limited housekeeping. Understand what peak season looks like and understand the 7 and 11 mo booking windows for reservations at your home resort v others. decide if it makes sense to split the points between two home resorts.

These are just the things I though were critical to understand--we recently made the decision to buy and we are taking a scouting trip soon to pick another home resort (we bought some GFV direct--enough to stay a peak week every other year in a 1 bedroom.)

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Only because then we can get what we want for sure. And I thought I'd read that in order to have access to the Disney and Concierge collections, you have to buy direct? Buying direct isn't set in stone, just what we're leaning towards. I'm open to suggestions as to the pros/cons of resale vs direct!

Do you know what resort you are leaning towards buying? Though you can buy any resort direct there can be waitlists in order to get the points direct for some of the resorts. Disney gets points back for the older resorts from foreclosures and from the ROFR process when they decide to use that and some have to wait until the reaquire points.

Resale - you can get everything except VGF at this time. Since you are going to pay cash that really opens it up to lots of savings by purchasing resale. As you know you can't use resale points for any of the Disney Cruises, ABD etc. but you can still use them for any RCI exchanges and the Buena Vista Trading Co. Be aware that any of these items can be modified at anytime for both resale and direct purchases.

Since you don't necessarily need the points right away that also makes resale a good option since it will most likely take 60+ days from the time your offer until the closing date. And the money saved on 250 points could pay for a cruise or two (or maybe even three).

 

[disneynutz]

I guess what I said came out wrong - I'm aware that the DVC vacations are subject to availability. I'm also QUITE aware of how expensive Disney vacations are as we go every year. I'm in the early stages if research. I'm also a regular DISer, so I came to the DVC boards to learn. I really don't appreciate the condescension. We'll be at the Poly in 4 weeks, and plan to tour the DVC at SSR. I'll continue to research. Trust me, we don't even buy a TV without tons of research.

Sorry that you took my advice and comments that way, I don't flower it up. The comments made by others pretty much reaffirmed what I said.

Good luck with your adventure.

Bill

 

[Minniesgal]

My advice start small and build it up. We bought in with 220 AKV and have added on twice. While we love AKV we have found we also love BLT and now wish we had originally bought half and half. It takes time to see exactly how and where you will want to use your points buying several smaller contracts gives more flexibility.

 

[bakerworld]

We're an older couple - grown children with no prospective GCs - so we decided to choose the minimum buy-in with the highest incentives. We've added small contracts on at different venues to get the home resort 11-month reservation advantage. We base the number on every other year usage for 6N. We don't like to cook nor are we big eaters so studios work for us.

We will probably eventually sell our larger contract just because it's so large - 160. We prefer the 55 to 100 number. We allowed our guide to steer us towards the 160 which if we were 1BR people would've been a good number for us.

We don't spend much time in the room so when we do travel with our grown children sharing isn't a problem. We only use our kitchen to make coffee and the fridge holds beverage of choice.