Resale - did you wait for exactly what you want or settle?

[ozliz]

for those that bought resale, did you wait to get the contract that was exactly what you wanted (points, use year, etc) or did you go with a close enough will do type approach? If you got exactly what you wanted did you wait a while or not and were you just lucky if you didn't have to wait? How much did a broker preference come into it versus grabbing the contract from whichever broker had the one you wanted?

 

[Marionnette]

for those that bought resale, did you wait to get the contract that was exactly what you wanted (points, use year, etc) or did you go with a close enough will do type approach? If you got exactly what you wanted did you wait a while or not and were you just lucky if you didn't have to wait? How much did a broker preference come into it versus grabbing the contract from whichever broker had the one you wanted?

I admit that my first contract was kind of impulsive. I bought at AKV - Kidani because it was a small contract and I wanted to dip my toe into DVC. Subsequent contract purchases have been more deliberate. I've watched, waited, thought about making offers, stopped myself from making offers and finally pulled the trigger on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and now the 5th contracts (all at BWV).

If I learned anything from the process it is that I don't want to "settle" for something. I prefer to stay at BWV and like being able to exercise my home resort advantage. I had a definite UY that I wanted and each contract that I purchased was because it had the number of points that I was in the market for at the time, an asking price that was within a reasonable range of my price point and the contract had not been stripped of its points. This last contract took more than a year of watching and waiting to get exactly what I wanted.

As for the broker, I have stayed with TTS for all 5 contracts mostly because each transaction has been relatively smooth. They know how my deeds need to be titled (I have an ethnic name with an apostrophe, which causes all kinds of problems if not recorded consistently). But if I had found a good contract available through another reputable broker, I would have considered it.

 

[disneynutz]

First contract resale as a newbie, right resort and number or points, wrong UY.
Other resale contracts, right resort, correct UY, right number of points or less points increased with additional contract.
Direct contracts when best deal offered, same UY, multiple small contracts.

Bill

 

[gatordoc]

First contract - resale, VWL. Did a lot of research and waited to find exactly what I wanted. Still works great for us in terms of number of points and use year.
Second contract - direct BWV. Got impatient to get exactly the resort/points/use year I wanted. Again, still works great, and this was long enough ago that it has appreciated in value (i.e. before direct prices went insane).
Third contract - direct, VGC. Bought as soon as points became available. This is the one contract that has caused us some difficulty, because when the points charts changed we no longer had enough points to book a 1-BR for the dates we wanted. Still enjoy using it, and have managed with studios since them (and some extra points that we can use elsewhere). Watching to add a few more points to get back to 1-BRs, but willing to be patient and wait as long as it takes.
Fourth contract - resale, SSR. Was in no rush for this one, so waited until exactly what I wanted became available. Has been a great purchase, both for booking the occasional treehouse, as well as less expensive points that we have been able to use at lots of other resorts.
As an addendum, in all cases we purchased only what we could afford to pay for outright, i.e. no financing.

 

[Eddie]

1st contract was direct from DIS SSR. Bought late the in the year I think close was in Nov. Got the years points for basically just 2 months of dues and 100 developer points for using a ref. It was a good deal.

2nd contract again direct AKL got a 3 day cruise as an incentive. Again bought late in the year got that years points for 2 months dues.

Currently in process of purchasing resale with TTS. DD is getting older and figured we will be going from studio's to at least a 1 bedroom so they can have a little privacy if she brings BF. Got use year wanted on 1st 2 this is a little different but easy enough to work around. Fees are payed for year and we are getting banked points. We have passed rofr and just waiting for paperwork to close which will be early October.

All sales were payed for no financing have always bought what we could afford and nothing hanging over our heads.

 

[Dean]

for those that bought resale, did you wait to get the contract that was exactly what you wanted (points, use year, etc) or did you go with a close enough will do type approach? If you got exactly what you wanted did you wait a while or not and were you just lucky if you didn't have to wait? How much did a broker preference come into it versus grabbing the contract from whichever broker had the one you wanted?

IMO one needs sufficient education to know what they want but sufficient experience and wisdom to buy what's best long term and look past the emotions and manic feelings that tend to fuel impulsive choices. IMO that often means not buying the new exciting resort and not necessarily buying the number of points one thinks they need. Generally new buyers don't know what they want as a home resort and it's common to under estimate the number of points needed but just as common to over estimate the number of points needed. In general I feel new buyers should avoid the newest and most expensive resorts unless they have a ton of DVC/Disney experience already. From a numbers standpoint I think one needs to consider a cushion and generally avoid contracts that are too small and generally avoid larger ones (more than 300-400 pts). Put another way, buy 150 or so even if you think you need less but maybe 220-250 (or even smaller at times) if you think you need 300 or more. Planned season and villa size also affect what's best for contract size. Looking at studios, lower seasons and less than a full week; I'd give at least a 20-30% cushion for number of points where one looking a a full week during magic or premier in a 2 BR might not need a cushion at all or can undercut it, esp if looking at higher point resorts.

I would never go in thinking I need 150 and anything different was a compromise. I would concentrate on home resort and UY though how important these issues are vary from one person to another. I'd decide what I thought was the ideal contract in terms of numbers of points, UY, home resort and price (including the idea of stripped vs loaded contracts). Then once I had that info, I'd decide how difficult getting that exact issue was likely to be. For sake of discussion assuming the ideal contract was SSR 150 August UY at $80 a point fully loaded with 150 banked 2015 points and all current/future points. Then simply decide what is most important. Maybe opening to anything in the 120 to 200 point range and maybe June or August UY (assuming Sept would be a poor choice). OTOH, for a more difficult to get option like VGF and VGC, one would need to be even more flexible. I do think UY is one of the more important components and where it isn't, one is simply takin more risk owning in general.

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

My first contract was direct with Disney back in 2005. After having it for 5 years or so we decided we did not have enough points for us (200) and decided to buy some more. We wanted to add 150-200 with the same resort and UY (SSR & June). We emailed a broker that happened to have exactly what we wanted and the seller had just had an offer fall through for a very low price per point ($50). We offered the same and they accepted. We were very lucky - we got exactly what we wanted at a very low price and no wait!

 

[crisi]

We did sort of what Dean advises against. After some research, we decided to buy OKW. This was back when there weren't a lot of choices in resale resorts - OKW, BWV, or almost new and expensive VWL points. BCV was selling direct. I'm really frugal and decided OKW points were about $5 a point cheaper. (It was even before OKW had their pool slide).

The contract we picked fell through - it was owned by two couples and one couple decided not to sell. The broker steered us to a BWV contract - same number of points, same price - but stripped (back then, the stripped points weren't worth as much either). We bought that, and have been very happy. We love walking into Epcot. We like the option of standard view (though we've only used it once - having it appeals to my frugal nature). Since we are every other year Disney people, we never missed the points we didn't get and we've always had plenty. And use year has never been an issue for us. The big reason for watching your use year is if you need to cancel. But since I joined, that reservation would rent through David's fairly easily.

 

[Cyberc1978]

At first we did a lot of research and then some more research.

Then we(or I did) analysed when we moste likely would travel, using our points. For us that would be july-aug, some years maybe also may or june.

For us the best use year would Feb, mar, apr. Since we would rarely travel the first 3 months of the year, at least to the US, europe is a different story, we went with the April use year. We wanted 3-4 days in a 2BR every year or 6-7 days every other year at BLT. Since we also own with HGVC we are doing split stays at DVC and HGVC.

A 1BR would be doable for the 5 of us, but since my 2 oldest both 11 yo, both are behaving like teens we always opt for the 2BR but also because of the extra space.

We searched for somewhere between 130-160 points, and ended up with 160 points at a pretty decent price. I'm a bargain hunter, and if I found another contract within my recission period, I would without a doubt cancel my first contract and sign the new one if I could save some money.

In the beginning I found most contracts to be overpriced, so I waited and asked some more questions and found that most contracts are priced higher in the first part of the year, like in the first 6 months and tend to be lower in the last part.

So you need to figure out when you are most likely to travel and then pick your UY, then figure out how many points you need.

When you have found 1 or more contracts that fits your need, place a bid on the "best" one, dont be affraid of placing a low offer. The sellers always has the option to say NO, just like you have.

 

[Dean]

We did sort of what Dean advises against. After some research, we decided to buy OKW. This was back when there weren't a lot of choices in resale resorts - OKW, BWV, or almost new and expensive VWL points. BCV was selling direct. I'm really frugal and decided OKW points were about $5 a point cheaper. (It was even before OKW had their pool slide).

The contract we picked fell through - it was owned by two couples and one couple decided not to sell. The broker steered us to a BWV contract - same number of points, same price - but stripped (back then, the stripped points weren't worth as much either). We bought that, and have been very happy. We love walking into Epcot. We like the option of standard view (though we've only used it once - having it appeals to my frugal nature). Since we are every other year Disney people, we never missed the points we didn't get and we've always had plenty. And use year has never been an issue for us. The big reason for watching your use year is if you need to cancel. But since I joined, that reservation would rent through David's fairly easily.

If we all knew then what we know now, LOL. I sure wish I'd have known early on what I now know. Overall though I'm very please with the choices I've made in timeshares and even the choices that weren't perfect have worked out well overall like in your case. In many ways owning BWV is much better than OKW even if one prefers to stay at OKW so they may have done you a favor though I'm sure it was frustrating at the time.

 

[crisi]

It really wasn't. I didn't know enough to get frustrated and the broker offered the new contract the same day - the whole thing fell apart and came back together very quickly.

And yes, they did me a favor. We didn't have any more capital output than we had planned for, but ended up with a home resort that we really like. We'd never even been back to the Epcot resort area (or for that matter, to OKW). I really wanted VWL, but it was at the time those contracts were rare and expensive. I have some regrets that I didn't buy a VWL contract - but none at all that we didn't end up with OKW. And if I have a few regrets about VWL - my husband really really enjoys the Epcot back door.

 

[ljcrochet]

First contract was directly. Then after staying at Hilton head, we decided to add on because we wanted the 11 month home resort advantage. As soon as we got home, we emailed a resale broker, they had a perfect contact with our use year. I think we had to the points in our account less than 2 months from when we decided to add on.

 

[Snurk71]

I've bought a few at 3 different resorts. All have been for the resort and UY we wanted. Price and# of points have all been close enough to our target.

The first one was lucky - happened to find exactly what we wanted within a week of deciding to add on. Some of the others took a little wait (weeks to a little over a month maybe).

 

[ktmo]

I "think" my first contract is a pretty decent fit - June BCV. It is the resort we wanted and a perfect use year for our travel habits. However, now that I want to add on, it seems like June is not as available as others. I also am looking for a relatively small contract, so that plays a part, but I didn't know that it would be hard to find another June UY contract.

 

[Cyberc1978]

I "think" my first contract is a pretty decent fit - June BCV. It is the resort we wanted and a perfect use year for our travel habits. However, now that I want to add on, it seems like June is not as available as others. I also am looking for a relatively small contract, so that plays a part, but I didn't know that it would be hard to find another June UY contract.

Keep in mind if you choose another UY the points will be separate and you will not be able to pool the points for a reservation at 7months out.

I would recommend that you kept looking for the right size and UY.

Unless the homeresort really matters for the small contract, you could look for another homeresort but with june as UY, this way you could pool the pool points 7mo out.

 

[crazywig]

Keep in mind if you choose another UY the points will be separate and you will not be able to pool the points for a reservation at 7months out.

One could just use the once a year transfer and move the points from one contract to the other.

 

[Dean]

One could just use the once a year transfer and move the points from one contract to the other.

That's true but it uses up the once a year transfer for both contracts and I don't believe one would be able to use the transferred points online but would have to call.

 

[squirrel4569]

First contract we did research but still was kind of blind. We weren't sure exactly how we would use it or how our travel habits would change once we became owners. DVC was still selling AKV and VGF (and Aulani) direct before the Poly opened at $160 a point. We liked the concept of AKV and were pleased to find points available for half of what DVC was charging direct. We knew resale was a better value and that using the points for cruises and such wasn't a good use of points, so we opted to go with resale. We did a bit of math with the point charts (the tool that David's rental place has is great) and figured we could afford the 160 point contracts so we went with that. It's worked out well and we've stayed a few different resorts so far and love AKV. We had never stayed there before buying and we're very happy that we've bought there.

We're in the process of buying our second contract now at BLT. This was partially fueled by having stayed at the Contemporary before and the access to MK. We went to MK on NYE this past year and loved it, except for getting into and out of MK that day. I said I would've loved to have points at BLT so we could just walk to and from MK during that busy time when the transportation is nuts. Plus we are also fans of Flower and Garden so having the monorail access to Epcot is nice too. We sought out the same use year and number of points as our AKV contract so it will fall under the same membership and we should, in theory, be able to combine our points at 7 months for a 1 bdr somewhere. I was able to find a contract quickly, but the choices were smaller since I was looking for a specific use year and number of points.

 

[Jersey Dis]

This is our first DVC and while we seached for a few months earlier in the year, this was almost a surprise purchase. I initially wanted beach club mainly due to the same reasons everyone else likes it, close to Epcot. We didn't jump on anything because I struggled with the close expiration and and the price per point premium. We occasionally looked at OKW because of its price point but again the close expiration year made me resistant. I eventually stopped paying attention. Occasionally I'd scroll through the emails I received with the current listings but nothing popped up. Fast forward to a week ago and the perfect contract popped up and my wife and I jumped on it. We decided on OKW but one with a 2057 expiration. It had the right number of points that we allow us to go every year or every other depending on our room choice and it came with a significant amount of points that gave us some flexibility early on.

I try not to be emotional when purchasing stuff as it keeps you more clear headed but as long as you are getting a good value and it passes ROFR the risk appears low considering how healthy the resale market is. I provided the same justification to my wife. If this purchase turns out to not be for us, we have the option to put it back on the market and go for something that fits our needs better.

 

[peaches0313]

Keep in mind if you choose another UY the points will be separate and you will not be able to pool the points for a reservation at 7months out.

I would recommend that you kept looking for the right size and UY.

Unless the homeresort really matters for the small contract, you could look for another homeresort but with june as UY, this way you could pool the pool points 7mo out.

I knew about pooling points at 7 months if getting same use year for an additional contract, but does it have to be the exact same number of points too???? That I hadn't heard...