Question About Use Year and Buying Resale vs Direct to Get What You Want

[flipflopsandpitstops]

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well!

So, I've been doing tons of research for over a year and this past March started constantly monitoring all of the reputable resale sites to look for the perfect contract for my family. I know exactly where I want to buy, how many points I want, and the two use years that would be best for us because we have no children and may never, and always go the same time of the year. Only problem, in the past 4 months no contracts with those two use years have shown up for resale at the resort we want for the number of points we want! I'm at the point where I actually called DVC to see if they had anything available and they do, but if we go that route it's about $5000 to $6000 more than if we go resale. We don't really care about the extras that you get when buying direct. So, I guess my question is have any of you been in the same situation, and if so what did you finally decide to do? Do you think that at this point it's worth it to just "bite the bullet" and buy direct, or are my expectations too high and I need to just chill and be patient?

I will add that part of why I may be feeling impatient is that everything with DVC is very unknown right now and I'm worried that with everything going on they're going to increase the restrictions and benefits for those buying resale. I'm also worried that because everything has passed ROFR for the past 4 months that when the new fiscal year starts that nothing will pass for a long time. Thoughts?


Thanks!
Susan

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I always waited and it always came around.

My answer relating to your situation might vary depending on the resort, UY and contract that you are looking for though. How many brokers are you watching?

 

[DVCsloth]

I agree if you are patient and keep an eye out you should be able to get what you are looking for eventually. I actually added on direct to match my use year and didn't want to wait and have restricted points, plus it came with the current years points and I bought right before the new use year so I paid no dues on them. Also got my points right away and used a credit card with 3 payments.

 

[ORD2KOA]

I agree. It makes sense to wait and if you don't care about the few perks, don't buy direct.

 

[Lorana]

Patience is key when it comes to resale. Eventually, someone will put that perfect contract on the market. And there's good chances that prices will go down in the next 6-18 months, too (though of course nothing is guaranteed).

That said, it's also worthwhile to consider (if you can afford the difference), if that $5-6k will truly matter to you in the long run, or would you rather get what you want - there's no guarantee disney won't increase prices down the line, and there's also no guarantee they'll have what you want direct down the road (or if you'll be waitlisted; consider VGC). A benefit of Direct is the fact that there are no restrictions, so you'll be able to use them at any DVC, including new resorts down the line. This is one reason why we did a mix of Direct and Resale, to have points we could use anywhere, get access to the benefits, and maximize savings with resale.

 

[ldo]

I'd buy a different number of points or a different UY. I'd buy resale. I cannot imagine you'd lost points enough points on a reservation to make up $5K difference in pricing. When do you travel and what UY do you want? How many times did your trip fall thru? For ex., Sept/Oct is not great for summer travel, but pretty much all others can work.

 

[macman123]

I would agree, wait for the contract that is right for you.

I have 2 x 200 BLT resale contracts and one 155 direct.

All same UY. The second resale took a while to come up and then when I did, I managed to grab it!

Patience is the key for your ideal contract.

 

[RoseGold]

If you've been watching over a year, and it hasn't popped up, I'm guessing you are trying to buy VGC. Those contracts are much more scarce than all the others. I'd be a little more flexible on use year. It's not like a month or two matters that much.

I always travel in Feb, but Sep/Oct/Dec would have worked too. Key is keeping your banking window.

I'm worried that with everything going on they're going to increase the restrictions and benefits for those buying resale.

I'm not sure what you are referring to. There's really not much fringe benefit left to take. They already took pool hopping (pretty much), discounts, parties. They can't take the ones that matter, like parking and laundry. Maybe TOTW? Stop taking out the trash? I don't see how they can decrease benefits any longer in any meaningful way. It's already stripped, which is fine by me. I definitely don't see it as a rush. Both direct and resale will be there when you are ready.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I agree that looking at more UY's might also be a plan. If you always travel at the same time then there's probably more than 2 UY's that will work to give you some free insurance against last minute cancellations.

 

[flipflopsandpitstops]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies and insight! We are looking to buy 100 pts at CCV and want a June or August use year. We travel a lot and go to WDW every other year. Each time we go for a week in either late Sept, early to mid-Nov, or early Dec. The only time in the future that I could see us going sometime different would maybe be in Jan or early May, but that would be VERY rare. We will never go over any holidays or spring breaks, simply too crowded for us during those times. Made the mistake of going for NYE one year and it was one of the worst vacations we've ever taken.

As far as restrictions go, and these are via the rumor mill only, I've heard speculation that WDW could change the benefit of the 11-month booking window if you have a resale contract, and make it more in line with the 7-month window. Like I said, rumor only, but with the end of the fiscal year coming up I could see them using this as a tactic to make more money and create incentive for more people to buy direct, especially for people like us who currently don't own DVC yet.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies and insight! We are looking to buy 100 pts at CCV and want a June or August use year. We travel a lot and go to WDW every other year. Each time we go for a week in either late Sept, early to mid-Nov, or early Dec. The only time in the future that I could see us going sometime different would maybe be in Jan or early May, but that would be VERY rare. We will never go over any holidays or spring breaks, simply too crowded for us during those times. Made the mistake of going for NYE one year and it was one of the worst vacations we've ever taken.

As far as restrictions go, and these are via the rumor mill only, I've heard speculation that WDW could change the benefit of the 11-month booking window if you have a resale contract, and make it more in line with the 7-month window. Like I said, rumor only, but with the end of the fiscal year coming up I could see them using this as a tactic to make more money and create incentive for more people to buy direct, especially for people like us who currently don't own DVC yet.

Have you looked here? https://www.dvcsales.com/listings/

I don't know how flexible they are on price.

The 11 month booking date for resale has been a rumor thrown out by some guides for years. In my reads of the POS it just doesn't seem possible without some really handy dandy interpretations. Others also interpret it the same way - not possible.

I'd also look at Sept UY's and possibly April since Jan would be a rare. For the early Dec trips you'd have to cancel sometime in early November anyway to avoid points in holding so you'd still be in the banking timeframe with an April trip.

 

[DebbieB]

I have an April use year for Boardwalk, purchased direct in 1999. In the last couple years, I started looking for a VGC resale. Was surprised how hard it was to find April. I was looking for around 100 points. I saw one last year but waited too long thinking about it. I talked to a DVC sales rep in early December when a non-member friend and I decided to take the DVC tour. $280 a point and a year+ waitlist. I’ll just take the free fastpasses and leave, lol.

Day after New Years, I saw a 150 point April and jumped on it. I already had my reservations for this year (so I thought....) so the fact there was only 1 point for 2020 and dues pay by seller seemed perfect. We settled on $180 a point. In hindsight, a loaded contract would have been a disaster this year with the closings. Hoping to make a reservation for next year, if they have D23. Not sure if they don’t.

 

[RoseGold]

As far as restrictions go, and these are via the rumor mill only, I've heard speculation that WDW could change the benefit of the 11-month booking window if you have a resale contract, and make it more in line with the 7-month window. Like I said, rumor only, but with the end of the fiscal year coming up I could see them using this as a tactic to make more money and create incentive for more people to buy direct, especially for people like us who currently don't own DVC yet.

Not sure where this rumor is from. Home resort has to have an advantage over the other points, from my paperwork, I think a month. So, yea they could change everything to 7 month/8 month, but I don't see how resale matters for that. You're deeded the same as the other owners. The other stuff (parties/discounts/free points) can and has dwindled over time.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies and insight! We are looking to buy 100 pts at CCV and want a June or August use year. We travel a lot and go to WDW every other year. Each time we go for a week in either late Sept, early to mid-Nov, or early Dec. The only time in the future that I could see us going sometime different would maybe be in Jan or early May, but that would be VERY rare. We will never go over any holidays or spring breaks, simply too crowded for us during those times. Made the mistake of going for NYE one year and it was one of the worst vacations we've ever taken.

As far as restrictions go, and these are via the rumor mill only, I've heard speculation that WDW could change the benefit of the 11-month booking window if you have a resale contract, and make it more in line with the 7-month window. Like I said, rumor only, but with the end of the fiscal year coming up I could see them using this as a tactic to make more money and create incentive for more people to buy direct, especially for people like us who currently don't own DVC yet.

Just one other thing to consider...will you be planning a cash trip while you wait?

If so, don’t forget to consider the cost of the room for that trip when looking at the difference. It still may be better to wait resale, but we did that when we first bought BLT..

 

[Lorana]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies and insight! We are looking to buy 100 pts at CCV and want a June or August use year.

If you jumped up to 150 points, the direct price drops to $195/point with current incentives, and if you were looking at an August UY, you’d get 2019 points you could bank into 2020. You could rent those out to further reduce your out of pocket expense, or use them yourself. Still might be more than you want to spend, but thought I’d put it out there as an option.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If you jumped up to 150 points, the direct price drops to $195/point with current incentives, and if you were looking at an August UY, you’d get 2019 points you could bank into 2020. You could rent those out to further reduce your out of pocket expense, or use them yourself. Still might be more than you want to spend, but thought I’d put it out there as an option.

There are 150 points resale contracts out there in June or Aug UY's. And the additional points only increases the difference of direct vs resale.

The resale site I posted had a 100 pt contract. It's just a matter of it being the right contract - they do come around.