Really doubting myself now...

[Fargoman2]

We were/are? ready to take the DVC plunge, but now that I've been home and had time to do the extended research, I'm feeling less and less convinced about purchasing DVC direct from Disney.

It seems like most people who have "done the homework" have opted to go the re-sale route for obvious economic benefit. Correct read on that or not?

The problem is that I think I'm a bit too lazy to do the mental gymnastics necessary to secure the "right" resale opportunity. After reading all these things on the boards about "User Year" considerations, "banking" and "borrowing" before deadlines, and how using your points for non-Disney resort vacations isn't such a great deal, and so on and so on and so on..I'm just more than a bit numb. Our papers came in the mail today...and I'm just feeling so overwhelmed.

We were initially high on buying DAK, because we really like the resort, but as reality sets in I'm not that thrilled about paying the premium sticker price--even though I'm highly confident that it's well within our ability to make it work.

Unfortunately, the kids caught wind of our interest in DVC and they'll be crushed if we decide not to do it. We put our earnest money down last weekend, but our agent assures us we can still back out at this point.

I don't know...maybe I'm just tired...We are a Disney crazy family...8 stays in 8 years, with most stays in the 7-9 nights range...

My feet are cold...will they turn blue...or will the waters warm...

I just don't know what to do here.

And I HATE feeling wishy-washy! It's kind of a bummer because I had already allowed myself to visualize how much we would enjoy a 1BR Villa SV at DAK next year.

Anyone else go through this goofy rollercoaster of indecision? Sorry for annoying you all with this.

 

[tidefan]

I did the homework and have purchased twice direct from Disney. You need to look at the incentives Disney is offering and see how it compares to a resale. We bought 200 pts. Dec UY in 2007, and they gave us the 2006 UY points as well, maintenence free for that year. That gave us plenty of points to do the 7-night Eastern DCL cruise (327 points for me, DW, and DD5) with some left over. We also got $10 off per point.

When we added on, on the ship, we bought another 110 and were given $10 off per point, 100 developers points (4-nights Disneyland Hotel!), not to mention that we put it on our Disney Visa and used the rewards points to pay off most of our Disneyland tix this summer.

From what I gather, the AKV promo right now is pretty good, with $8 off, developers points (# depending on how many you buy), plus a $500 Disney Gift Card.

I don't think that there is that big of a spread between direct and resale as it seems sometimes. However, sometimes, you can find a good resale that is stocked with banked points. You do need to research each and every resale as there are a number of variables that can factor in, depending on each individual contract.

DVC is wonderful. Look forward to having you on board!

 

[kikiq]

The only reason we bought directly from Disney at DLR last summer were the incentives and discounts at the time we purchased. If those had not been in place, resale probably would have been the better route. HOWEVER, in our case, my DH wanted it done once he made the decision to purchase, so going through Disney was quick, smooth and easy for us.

Our roller coaster: I was high on DVC after the DLR presentation, my DH was not. My Dh and I were high after visiting all the resorts and friends who own and were at OKW at the time we were at WDW last summer. Upon return to the west coast, my DH and I went back to DLR to ask more DVC questions. I was having second thoughts but my DH was still high and made THE decision to go with Disney because of the promotions at the time.

I do think the fact that we chose SSR as our home resort made it easier to go with Disney at the time. Our original resort choices were BCV/BWV but our DDs liked SSR better and since they will use the last half of the contract, we went with SSR.

The water is warm where I'm sitting(visualize the SSR spa)

 

[DVC Mike]

The only reason we bought directly from Disney at DLR last summer were the incentives and discounts at the time we purchased. If those had not been in place, resale probably would have been the better route. HOWEVER, in our case, my DH wanted it done once he made the decision to purchase, so going through Disney was quick, smooth and easy for us.

For AKV, the incentives offered by DVC make buying direct a very good value compared to buying AKV on the resale market.

For me, I've purchased every single one of my 16 DVC contracts direct from Disney -- I've never gone the resale route. Yes, I may have saved a few bucks by going resale, but I wanted the speed, convenience and immediacy of the DVC route. Since, over the long haul, the annual maintenance fees make up the bulk of the overall cost, the small savings of the resale route weren't worth it to me.

 

[dianeschlicht]

If AKV is your home resort of choice, I think you are far better off going through Disney than resale. No matter WHICH resort you choose, I suspect right now might be a good time to go through Disney anyway. The resale thing can take a long time and then there is the ROFR thing to suffer through. With all the incentive points etc, I think direct from Disney is the way to go in this case.

 

[photobob]

I've been a member for two years and we had made our purchase after eight trips. I wish we had bought sooner but truly we couldn't afford to before. We have really enjoyed our membership so far. I find the 1 BDr villa versus a regular hotel room so much better for relaxing in the room. I'm not sure in reading your post if you are getting cold feet on buying period or doing resale versus direct. All i can say whether resale or direct, BUY!! Sounds like you guys are great candidates for DVC. DVC memberships do take planning but that is half the fun to me. You will not regret buying..

 

[TisBit]

We bought direct through Disney and of course we were in between developer point incentives (we didn't realize it at the time). Like everything we got home did some research and saw that maybe we could have gotten better a month or two before or after, but realisticly I am not upset about our decision. We could have saved a few bucks, but it was no hassle and we really looked at what we were getting and saw that it was in fact a good deal for us.

 

[Robert H]

Sounds to me that AKV is the resort that you would like to stay at more, so you definitely want to purchase where you want to stay. You really need to research every resale you are looking at to make sure it meets your needs.

Take it from me, we thought we had found the perfect resale for us and took the plunge. Once it was to late, we started thinking about why we buying into SSR when we had never been there or even seen it. SSR lovers don't hate us, we are just not that informed on the resort. Now that we are members, we do plan on staying there and check it out for future visits. The deluxe resorts are what we like most. Luckily for us this story has a happy ending! Our resale encountered some unforeseen issues and we were able to get out of the contract. Five days later (Friday), we were buying into AKV through Disney. Got our paperwork yesterday, filled it out and sent it back today. We felt the incentives were well worth the money and absolutely love Savanah view at AKL and AKV. Good luck with your decision and should you decide to continue "Welcome Home". Robert

 

[shortypots]

If AKV is what you want, buy there directly from Disney. DH and I before we went on our trip in May were figuring we would buy DVC, but wait a couple of years til we paid down some of our other timeshare purchases. However, when we got there, they were offering matching developer points and 2008 UY with no MF's. So we decided to rent them out instead of using them ourselves since we pretty much have everything booked for the next two years, or so we hope anyway! Once I figure in how much we got from rentals, I actually dropped our price per point to $77/pt, which is better than most DVC resorts (onsite at WDW) out there, the only one being better is OKW, and that ends in 2042. We get an extra 15 yrs of ownership for almost the same price as other DVC resorts. And now they are even offering $500 off per 160 pts, so that would have added to our discount if we had waited 2 months.

We were so happy with our DVC purchase that we immediately went out and purchased 150 pts at VWL resale for ourselves. The reason for the purchase of the 300 pts is to take the extended family (12 total) every other year probably in dream season with kiddies and a teacher in the group. We know there are folks in our family that cannot afford to go to disney if the accomodations are not covered, so this is our way of trying to help the family come together.

What we may find is folks saying "Sorry we can't come" or "No Thanks!" and if that is the case, we have more points that DH and I can use ourselves. It might turn out that we have to take certain families each year since we have a hard time getting along. 300 pts will still get us 6nts in a 2bd SV view every year during dream season, so you can't beat that!

I think you will find that you will definitely warm up to the idea again, it is just buyer's remorse right now. It hit us too, but in 2 weeks, we signed another contract!

Good thing we can work from anywhere in the continental US with internet access.

 

[bangzoom6877]

For us, we decided resale is the way to go. We are buying at BWV for our home resort, and we are SET on BWV every time we go. We love that location, as we want to be able to walk to 2 of the theme parks. We are not interested in staying at AKV because although we enjoyed Boma, it was not our definitely favorite and we did not feel well the night we ate there (food was good, just not used to the spices they use), so we are not going again. So the dining options are one reason for not staying at AKV. Also, out of all the four main theme parks, AK is the one we would go to the least amount of times. We had fun there but it just didn't have the same feel as the other 3 do for us. AKV is pretty far from other parks, especially MK, which we would go to every trip. The only thing that was appealing at first about AKV was the club level option, as this is not available at any other DVC resort for members. However, I am sure these rooms are very hard to get, and there is no guarantee of getting one every trip. This is also something they could get rid of at any time, so I wouldn't purchase for that sole purpose.

DVC offered us BWV for $104 a point on a minimum 160-point contract. For our vacation needs, we need 150 points, and there are plenty of those for resale. Plus, we could get them for roughly $20 less per point. DVC is currently not offering any incentives to buy points at BWV so we would not benefit from that since we are not buying at AKV. Therefore, DH and I decided that we would go with a resale. There are plenty of 150-point contracts up for resale, at good prices, but prices that would most likely pass ROFR from what I understand about the whole process.

Everyone is different. If we were set on AKV as the home resort, we would buy directly through Disney. With the incentive, it is a better deal than resales which currently go for the mid-$90s per point anyway.

Good luck with your decision!! I did a lot of research too and that is how we decided DVC is for us. Doing the homework was totally worth it!

 

[SandrainNC]

We did go resale (passed ROFR last week, so still working on it) for AKLV but only because Disney did not have the use year we wanted and had no idea when it would be available. They had June 2009 but we would have had to start paying on it (fees) and no points until June 2009 and that did not appeal to us. So when I got home and saw points for resale with the UY I wanted, I jumped on it.

Sandra

 

[JimC]

We have bought both resale and direct. There is a price savings with resale, but you may not get the exact contract you want. We are quite pleased with either choice. Make sure you deal with a reputable broker or use a reputable closing company if it is a private sale.

 

[JimMIA]

We've bought both ways. Our original purchase was resale and we saved over $4,000 and got 149 free points already banked into the next use year. Hard to beat that deal!

Our second purchase was made directly from DVC, because the offer they had at that time for SSR was actually better than resale.

The advantages with resale are cost, and sometimes extra points. The disadvantages are you have to go to school a bit, the process takes some time, and there is some uncertainty with ROFR. I think people who use a reputable and knowledgeable broker can almost eliminate the ROFR risk and still save significant money, just by using common sense, but the uncertainty bothers some.

You also have to spend some time learning about various contracts with resale, but to be honest, I think that exercise made me focus on what was really most important to our family. I certainly had a much clearer idea of what DVC was and how it works after exploring resale (thanks to the many helpful folks here) than I did after the 2 hours with my guide!

The advantage to buying direct from Disney is you are buying direct from Disney. That's not always a plus, however. We found our guide not as knowledgeable as the folks at TTS, and she cost us some points we should have gotten by her limited understanding of the promotion she was selling. From posts I've seen here, there are some great guides out there, and there are some who are somewhat less than great.

If you are willing to spend a little time to learn the ropes, I would take a long look at the resale market, and then compare what you find there to the cost of buying direct.

There is no right or wrong way to buy, and once you're in, it doesn't make a bit of difference how you bought.

If you think you've made a mistake, I'd certainly step back and look at the whole picture again and explore all of the alternatives. This is not the kind of purchase I would complete if I had any reservations.

 

[JimMIA]

Since, over the long haul, the annual maintenance fees make up the bulk of the overall cost, the small savings of the resale route weren't worth it to me.

Mike's point about maintenance fees is certainly correct, and it's an often overlooked aspect of the DVC purchase decision. We looked at the whole cost (don't do the math -- it's as scary as adding up your mortgage payments over 30 years! ), because for us the decision of how and where to buy was strictly a financial decision...not a decision of the heart.

Here's a link to an old thread that discusses purchasing. It starts off with a discussion of "Home Resort," but the thread contains a lot of very good input from a wide variety of DVC owners.

Advice for Prospective DVC Buyers

Keep in mind that this is an old thread, so the prices and promotions will not be accurate. But the logic and general information may be helpful.

 

[Mtnman44]

It looks like AKV resales are going for around $94. The current direct price is $96 and includes dev points, right? If so, then there is really no reason to go resale for AKV right now. Plus, closing costs are several hundered dollars less if you go direct.

 

[Robert H]

It looks like AKV resales are going for around $94. The current direct price is $96 and includes dev points, right? If so, then there is really no reason to go resale for AKV right now. Plus, closing costs are several hundered dollars less if you go direct.

IMHO, Yes that is correct! The only other factor to consider would be the use year they are selling right now, and whether it works for your vacation needs. BTW, you also do not pay any MF until May 2009 when Kidani opens. Robert

 

[javamom]

We bought resale for 2 reasons
1) We wanted Boardwalk and didn't want to pay what Disney was charging
2) We were able to buy more points via resale than we would have been able to afford going through Disney.

I think that the current incentives for AKV are good. If you love that resort, I would buy from Disney and pocket those incentives.

What is really important is that you get the points that you need and are happy with your home resort.

 

[SandrainNC]

It looks like AKV resales are going for around $94

We got ours for $85.

Sandra

 

[kristenrice]

We tossed around between resale and direct ever since the 100 points buy in promotion was announced by Disney. I crunched all the numbers and this is what we came up with:

Resale:
1) Contract: 100 points AKV with Feb UY and ALL 2008 points available
2) Price: $9300
3) Closing: $397
4) MF's due at close: $471
5) TOTAL: $10,168

Direct:
1) Contract: 100 points AKV with Dec UY; no point usage/MF's until May 2009
2) Price: $9600 (No other incentives available to me, for some reason!)
3) Closing: $235
4) MF's due in June: $275 (to compare apples to apples)
5) TOTAL: $10,110

We went with resale because of the immediate availability of the Feb 2008 points. These extra points essentially "cost" us $58 more. Unfortunately, we won't be able to use them ourselves, but I have 2 friends that want to go and their vacation plans will use up those 100 points. They've offered to compensate me so that is an added "discount".

We made an offer yesterday and it was accepted! Now, we just have to do all the paperwork and wait for ROFR.

 

[DVC Mike]

2. Forget the major analysis of buying resale vs. DVC direct. The ultimate price per point you pay actually makes very little difference in the bigger scheme of things. I could easily make the argument that buying direct from DVC makes the most sense because there won't be any closing costs, you'll get whatever the current promotion is, there won't be any waiting for ROFR, or a slow agent or slow seller. Let's suppose you pay DVC $5 above the price per point you could find on a resale (AKV). On an initial 160 point contract that's $800 - spread it over 50 years and you're talking $16/year. Now, take out the closing costs, incentive, ease of dealing with DVC directly and you see the difference (if there is any) going the resale route is not all that major.

3. The purchase price is insignificant compared to the amount you're going to pay over the 33 to 50 years you own. The overwhelming amount of money will be paid through the maintenance fees.