Ready to go, but need your help!

[Barringer75]

We did the tour on our vacation in Sept and we definitely want to join DVC. (We're waiting for our home equity loan to come thru). Both BWV and BCV appeal to us. I know that BWV would be thru resale. So how do we make the decision as to which way to go? I've seen resales for BWV at anywhere from $62/pt-$70/pt which is a lot less than $80/pt from Disney for BCV.
How do I factor in the use year? I'm still not too clear on how that works. We have 2 small children in school, so we usually go end of Aug or school breaks. How did you make your decision? Any pointers are appreciated!! If we do buy direct from Disney, I guess we should move quickly before the price increase! Thanks.

 

[Chuck S]

Use year, for most DVCers isn't really a problem. You just need to keep track of your banking windows. Since there is a 100 banking window (is it 6 months? I've never banked more than a few points), you may want to try to have that deadline will fall a month or two AFTER your normal vacation months - that way you can cancel a trip if you need to, and still bank all the poiints. So I guess a use year that starts about 4 months before your normal vacation time would be good. AS far as resale vs. direct from DVC - there are many factors to consider.

1]If you are able to plan your trips at least 7 months in advance buy where you plan to stay the most - that 11/7 window will only become MORE important as DVC resorts keep getting added to the system.

2] Closing costs are included from DVC, but not resales - they are however negotiable between buyer/seller - usually they are around $400.

3] A less significant consideration is annual dues - they will vary from resort to resort.

4] Resale contracts will often have points banked from the previous use year - depending on deadlines and vacation habits, it could effectively give you double the points for the first year.

Best of luck with your decisions, I hope you'll enjoy being DVC members as much as we have for the last 10 years!

 

[SheriB]

We played around with the same decision-either resale at BWV or BCV direct from Disney. We decided to go with BCV thru Disney because some of the BWV contracts, while priced right, had points borrowed on them, which meant that we could not use any points until 2004. Make sure if you decide to get a resale at BWV that you know exactly the status of the points. Some may be available immediately; some may be borrowed into next year and used, so you will have to wait until 2004 to use any. That's fine, if you don't mind waiting. We didn't want to wait for a contract to become available to meet our needs, and since we liked BWV and BCV the same, we went with BCV. Good luck, whatever you decide!

Sheri

 

[EROS]

We've purchased 2 resales at BWV. I'd definitely urge you to go that route but keep in mind that each deal has to be judged on its own merits. Some sellers are more flexible around negotiating; others are not. If you have questions about the merit of any given deal, go ahead and post them here, and you'll receive some excellent feedback!!!

 

[Shontell_Crawford]

Chuck did a great job of explaining the importance (or lack thereof) when it comes to use year...here is what I commonly tell folks to think about before deciding:
Some people prefer specific use years, because they travel the same time every year. To understand this concept you need to understand the banking rules. If you vacation during the same month EVERY year and plan on doing so for the next 35 years or so, then you might pick a use year right before or during the month you travel, for one reason only: If you need to cancel one year, you are still within your initial 100% banking window that Disney designates as the first 6 months of your use year.
If you travel during various times of the year, like most folks, the use year should not be a consideration for you. I recommend you look for the best resale value at the property you want to own and disregard the use year reference.

Whether you buy direct or resale really depends on what is available...I always go for the best value based on my needs.

Good luck!
Shontell