Resale buyers ... What are the top 3 things to look for?

[NewYorkMom]

What would you say are the top 3 things we need to look into when buying through a buyer vs. DVC direct.

Also, which company did you buy from or recommend?

 

[mickeyman]

What would you say are the top 3 things we need to look into when buying through a buyer vs. DVC direct.

Also, which company did you buy from or recommend?

I bought through fidelity and had a great experience

 

[davper]

Are the points stripped or will they expire unused before or soon after closing?
You can expect the process to take as long as 4 months before you have access to make a trip. The closer you get to the date you want to travel, the harder it is to get a reservation on points. If the points will expire on you as a result, make sure you consider that in the price and on who pays the MF for those points.

Do the current points need to be banked?
If there is still time, have the seller bank the points so they don't expire on you.

Is the Use Year correct for my vacation pattern?
If you like to travel in October, then you should get a Use Year that will allow you to bank any points should you have to cancel your trip last minute. I believe you cannot bank points in the last 4 months of your Use Year.

Are there enough annual points for my room of preference and time of year and for frequency of travel?
Example, I like to go during Magic Season and stay in a 1-Bedroom Villa. To do this I need 270 points. I also only want to go every other year. So 270/2 = 135 points needed annually.

Is this the resort I will be happy staying at all the time?
You have the privilege of booking you home resort 11 months in advance of your trip. Every other resort you can book 7 months in advance. It is quite possible you will not get what you want at 7 months. So you better be happy to stay in your home resort.

 

[NewYorkMom]

That is a

Are the points stripped or will they expire unused before or soon after closing?
You can expect the process to take as long as 4 months before you have access to make a trip. The closer you get to the date you want to travel, the harder it is to get a reservation on points. If the points will expire on you as a result, make sure you consider that in the price and on who pays the MF for those points.

Do the current points need to be banked?
If there is still time, have the seller bank the points so they don't expire on you.

Is the Use Year correct for my vacation pattern?
If you like to travel in October, then you should get a Use Year that will allow you to bank any points should you have to cancel your trip last minute. I believe you cannot bank points in the last 4 months of your Use Year.

Are there enough annual points for my room of preference and time of year and for frequency of travel?
Example, I like to go during Magic Season and stay in a 1-Bedroom Villa. To do this I need 270 points. I also only want to go every other year. So 270/2 = 135 points needed annually.

Is this the resort I will be happy staying at all the time?
You have the privilege of booking you home resort 11 months in advance of your trip. Every other resort you can book 7 months in advance. It is quite possible you will not get what you want at 7 months. So you better be happy to stay in your home resort.

That is awesome info ... Thank you for that!

My question then, does use year mean that the points were already banked and will expire by that time? Example: if we like to typically travel in September, we would want to have use year in September?

 

[AMCSquared]

That is a


That is awesome info ... Thank you for that!

My question then, does use year mean that the points were already banked and will expire by that time? Example: if we like to typically travel in September, we would want to have use year in September?

Use Year is when your yearly point becomes available. For your example, if you buy September UY contract, your points will be available on September 1st every year. You have a whole year to use those points (say Sept 1st, 2015 to Aug 31st, 2016). If you will not use points, you can bank them to use "next year" (so the banked points must be used in Sept 1st, 2016 to Aug 31st, 2017). However, you need to bank your points 4 month before it expires. So I believe the deadline to bank would be April 30th, 2016 for UY-2015's points.

If you want to travel September, you probably shouldn't buy UY around Oct to January. This is due to the fact that if you need to cancel at the last moment, you may have already passed the 4 month banking window. This means you are "stuck" with those points for that year instead of having the ability to bank them.

UY is actually really not that important. Chances are your vacation pattern will change eventually (i.e. kids gets older, etc.).

 

[disneynutz]

There is much info to learn about the DVC, the points system, UYs, banking and borrowing all info that makes you and educated buyer and that will save you money. There are several threads here on the DIS that you should read and understand prior to spending your hard earned money.

Bill

 

[pangyal]

Hi and welcome to the world of DVC ! You will find pretty everything you need to get started here:


http://www.disboards.com/threads/★-☆-★-the-dvc-information-center-★-☆-★.3436037/

 

[Dean]

What would you say are the top 3 things we need to look into when buying through a buyer vs. DVC direct.

Also, which company did you buy from or recommend?

First I'd say one wouldn't be ready to buy until they could answer this or similar questions for someone else. One needs to first decide if they can afford it (to me that's paying cash with no consumer debt but also the other components like tickets). Then, is staying on property worth the significant extra dollars. Finally they need to have enough information and experience to proceed. IMO, until one gets through those issues, looking for a resale is too early. This process generally takes a good 6 months of active investigation plus on property experience for at least a couple of trips, the more information/experience the better decisions one is likely to make.

Once one decides that buying is reasonable, the first question is whether the much higher cost of retail is worth it, it's not for the non guaranteed options such as DCL or other cash type exchanges since they cost more than just getting less points and paying cash. Retail is only reasonable when there isn't significant savings to be had resale for what one wants/need. Then home resort, since some are not available retail and there is considerable price difference in both purchase price and yearly fees. Then number of points, usually I'd go to a moderate sized contract, a little larger if I thought I only needed less than 150 and a little to moderately smaller is I thought I needed more than 150 to 270. Once one is through that they should have a home resort chosen (sometimes more than one), have a contract size in mind and have a narrow range of purchase price.

IMO then and only then, is one ready to contact a broker. At that point it's just telling them what they want and making offers with your parameters in mind, not theirs.

Common mistakes are overbuying (less often underbuying) in terms of home resort and number of points, ignoring contracts that would work long term but don't fit the short term vision, overpaying on dues for resale points, not getting a good UY and trying to buy quickly to get that next trip in on points but making a choice that's not as good. For example, one might buy something like VGF at 300 points then use frequently at SSR, OKW, or AKV and in a few years aren't going as much and only need 150-200 due to changes in their situation or preferences.

Loaded vs stripped is simply a financial question. One can easily adjust between contracts based on the points availability and size.

 

[chalee94]

If you will not use points, you can bank them to use "next year" (so the banked points must be used in Sept 1st, 2016 to Aug 31st, 2017). However, you need to bank your points 4 month before it expires. So I believe the deadline to bank would be April 30th, 2016 for UY-2015's points.

If you want to travel September, you probably shouldn't buy UY around Oct to January. This is due to the fact that if you need to cancel at the last moment, you may have already passed the 4 month banking window. This means you are "stuck" with those points for that year instead of having the ability to bank them.

UY is actually really not that important. Chances are your vacation pattern will change eventually (i.e. kids gets older, etc.).

this part is true.

Use Year is when your yearly point becomes available. For your example, if you buy September UY contract, your points will be available on September 1st every year. You have a whole year to use those points (say Sept 1st, 2015 to Aug 31st, 2016).

this part was a little confusing.

use year is when you can use your pts for stays. my oct UY means that my 2015 pts are valid for stays from oct 1, 2015 to sept 30, 2016.

BUT my 2015 UY pts were available for booking a stay during that period based on my home resort - so I could book OKW (my home resort) for oct 1, 2015 starting on nov 1, 2014 (11 months in advance for my home resort). if I had used all of my pts from my 2014 and 2015 UYs, I could still book oct 1, 2015 starting on nov 1, 2014 by using borrowed 2016 UY pts.

don't get confused about booking and "using" pts for a stay. UY is about the latter, and has nothing to do with when you can call to book (which is based on home resort).

and if you have to cancel the stay, traveling early in your UY gives you more options in being able to change those plans without losing pts.

 

[girli565]

We bought resale through The Timeshare Store.

1. Loaded/stripped contract. We wanted one that at least had some loaded points
2. use year - We wanted an early use month so a January-April UY was important to us.
3. Price - we wanted to spend a certain amount and nothing more. Top price was $95/point and we wanted at least 120 points to start out with.

 

[davper]

If you want to travel September, you probably shouldn't buy UY around Oct to January. This is due to the fact that if you need to cancel at the last moment, you may have already passed the 4 month banking window. This means you are "stuck" with those points for that year instead of having the ability to bank them.

I disagree. If they are traveling in September and have a use year of Oct, then they will be unable to bank their points if they have to cancel.
Travel in September, then SEP, AUG, or JUL are you better choices for USE YEAR

Read this for USE YEAR
http://www.disboards.com/threads/understanding-your-use-year.3443000/#post-54329290

Read this to understand DVC as a whole
http://www.disboards.com/threads/★-☆-★-the-dvc-information-center-★-☆-★.3436037/

 

[NewYorkMom]

We have 4 children so a studio would not fit us and I know that the 1 and 2 bed's use a lot more points. I have read through the DVC info center and it was excellent! It seems as though we would need approx. 300 points (unless I'm reading it wrong, which is possible!). I believe we should buy resale and find something at SSR, BLT, or PVB with a UY of AUG or SEP. We normally go in SEP for 8-10 days. We would like to start going long weekends as well, but not necessarily during holiday's as we have a flexible schedule.

Examples of what a desired year would look like, if we did one big trip:

8-10 nights for 6 during Adventure Season
3-4 night for 6 during Adventure, Choice, Dream

Examples of what a year would look like, if we did smaller trips:

2 - 3-4 nights for 6 during Adventure
1 - 3-4 nights for 6 during Dream season

What we currently do:

8-10 nights during SEP or OCT staying in a moderate that sleeps 5. Obviously, we are looking down the road as our 6th is in a crib and won't be in a year so moderate resort will be out of the question for us unless we book 2 connecting rooms (I have not priced that out).

Main factor for us would be cost (paying in full) - If we do it this way, is the cost tax deductible? or is the only thing tax deductible loan interest?
We are not concerned about what resort we stay in, so obviously whichever is our HR, is where we would look first since we can book 11 months in advance and I believe what we need is normally booked first.

 

[davper]

The cost is not tax deductible. If you have mortgage interest, then that should be deductible.

Based on what I read, it looks like you would go yearly. Based on your family size 2-Bedroom will be required. Based on those facts, you would need 500 points a year. At roughly $80-$85 per point at SSR, that is $40k to $42.5k in cost.

At BLT, you would need 600 points at roughly $72k

Don't forget the Maintenance Fees every year. Using $6 as the fee per point, you would be paying $3k to $3.6k annually

 

[Dean]

The cost is not tax deductible. If you have mortgage interest, then that should be deductible.

Only if it's written as a true mortgage and a couple of other criteria are met.

 

[MadScouser]

I know I should know this - but what are the key differences with picking up a DVC contract second hand

yes, its cheaper ... but I have in my head for some reason there is a limitations of some kind , but cannot recall what

 

[Dean]

I know I should know this - but what are the key differences with picking up a DVC contract second hand

yes, its cheaper ... but I have in my head for some reason there is a limitations of some kind , but cannot recall what

No access to cash type exchange options or DVD specific items. So no DCL, ABD, Disney Collection, Concierge Collection or Disney Collection. That includes no DVC members cruises on DCL if ONLY resale buyer even if paying cash. All items consistently MORE expensive by far than buying less points and paying cash for the other items and with no guarantees to continue to be an option. One can still use at DVC resorts and for exchange company exchanges (RCI, BVTC) though there is a chance one or both could go away as well and neither reasonable to buy for either. Of course this is for resale buyers only after March ?10, 2011 and there are no guarantees it would not change in the future even for existing affected resale buyers. Actually I think it's guaranteed it will change.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Resort, number of points, price per point is how I chose our contract. Use year didn't matter to me since I know we will travel different months throughout the next few decades.

 

[NewYorkMom]

Resort, number of points, price per point is how I chose our contract. Use year didn't matter to me since I know we will travel different months throughout the next few decades.

THANKS!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Welcome just realized I didn't answer the rest of your question. We went with timeshare store. After we put in our contract then I noticed other companies. I would look at all the companies to find the contract you are looking for.

 

[ParrotBill]

An explanation of loaded/stripped - I had to help my neighbor through this carefully. After understanding what months are best for the use year to purchase, consider how many months until the next reload date:

Loaded = current use year points still available.
Extra loaded = current use year points available + some points banked from the previous year
Stripped = present use year all used up but full points will reload on the use year date
Extra stripped = present use year all used up AND some or all points borrowed out of next year so you might be waiting another full year for the points to reload