Resale or buy from Disney??

[Jacky]

Hi. Just got back from WDW (our 8th visit) and for the first time I went to a DVC sales pitch. I am VERY interested. Right now I can get 85 per point at SSR. Should i buy that or should I mess around looking for a resale? I have to decide by Tuesday if I want the discount---and buy straight from Disney. Also, do the other resorts only have a lease till 2042? While SSR has a lease till 2054? At least this is how I figured it.

Appreciate your help.

Jacky

 

[Mooobooks]

Do NOT pay retail.
You will pay much less by buying a larger contract (more points) through resale.
I did it at The Timeshare Store.
Times have changed since I paid $53 dollars a point three years ago, but I can't imagine it still isn't more worthwhile.
For the same amount you'd pay retail, you can buy a much larger contract at resale.

 

[tjkraz]

Yes, you are correct on the contract expiration dates. Advantage: SSR.

If you are going into this with a clear preference for one resort over another, then you should definitely buy your points at that resort. Some folks just love (for example) the Boardwalk and want to stay there 80+ percent of the time. If that's you, then buy at BWV (or whatever your resort of choice might be). You can book your "Home" resort up to 11 months in advance, giving you a much better chance of getting the room you want during high occupancy periods (which tend to be October through December plus the annual Spring Break weeks.)

However, if you've looked at the DVC material and don't have a clear cut resort preference, then you might as well just buy at SSR. We are owners at SSR. We've had wonderful success booking the other resorts in the program and have no regrets over our decision to buy direct.

Financially, the numbers are very close. In order to get a resale through Disney's Right of First Refusal, you'll probably have to pay $72-74 per point, plus current year's maintenance ($4) plus closing costs ($3-4 per point). That's about $80 per point resale vs. $85 per point at SSR with the 12 extra years.

If you can find a resale with banked points, that represents an additional financial bonus for resale not included in the above. But offset that with the time and energy that you will expend in looking for a resale, making an offer, haggling with the owner, waiting on ROFR, closing, and so on. IMO, it depends on how anxious you are to seal the deal vs. how much time and energy you want to expend to reduce your up-front costs by going the resale route.

Also note that if you go the resale route you will have to pay cash or secure your own financing.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask additional questions.

 

[Jacky]

Thanks. Anything I should look for in the purchasing via a resale? And do the resales lease last a lot shorter? Are they all up in 2042 or is it a 50 year lease from when the first person bought it, no matter what?

Looks like Vero beach points can be gotten for about 65, Boardwalk for about 75 points-- does that have to do with desirability of the location or length of lease, do you think?

Thanks,

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Mooobooks
Do NOT pay retail.
You will pay much less by buying a larger contract (more points) through resale.

Not really true these days. About 2 months ago, DVC got agressive in purchasing and reselling contracts to existing members. This raised the floor on resale prices (good for sellers), and also narrowed the gap between "new" and resale contracts.

See my post above for details.

Given the narrow difference between direct purchase and resale pricing, I would only consider a resale if I could get one with banked points. IMO, the extra years at SSR plus the convenience of buying direct offset the minimal resale savings.

YMMV.

 

[Jacky]

Thanks. I think I am going to call the DVC tomorrow. I am quite anxious to buy!!! Now I have to decide how many points to buy--

I just LOVE disney!!! I have been to so many theme parks, but I just love the Disney magic!!

Jacky

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Jacky
Looks like Vero beach points can be gotten for about 65, Boardwalk for about 75 points-- does that have to do with desirability of the location or length of lease, do you think?

Vero Beach has the highest maintenance costs of any resort in the program. And, after the unfortunate weather this year (the resort received a direct hit from two of the hurricanes and is currently closed at least through the end of October), those dues will climb even higher next year. That's the primary reason you see VB resale contracts priced so much lower than the on-site resorts. If you run the numbers, you will find that you pay a lot more in Maintenance fees over 40-50 years than you do for the initial purchase.

That said, location does still play a role in the pricing. As I said in my first post, many people have very close ties to the resort they have chosen as their Home, and believe that the 4-month booking window is extremely important in getting their room of choice. For the most part, I agree with that logic. I just don't happen to count myself among those that always want to stay at one resort, and thus far I've been very pleased with the ability to book resorts that are not my Home.

As far as demand goes, the DVC properties at the Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club and Boardwalk tend to have the highest demand on the resale market. The two main reasons are location and size. VWL is a boat ride away from the Magic Kingdom, while BCV and BWV are within walking distance of Epcot and MGM. They are also the three smallest resorts in the program.

All contracts EXCEPT SSR end on January 31, 2042. SSR contracts end on January 31, 2054. No matter when you purchase or from whom you purchase, the above dates will always apply.

 

[dis-happy]

I recently purchased resale, but there is one big plus of buying direct that I wish I had considered more carefully....the time factor.

Resale can take 6-8 weeks before you are in the Disney system and able to make reservations. We got a contract Labor Day weekend, passed ROFR by 9/14, and still we are not able to make a ressie yet (hoping for the end of this week!). With Disney, you can give them your cc deposit over the phone and be in the system in a day or two.

Another plus, if you are planning on it, is that the Disney financing is right there and available.

HTH

 

[mydogdrew]

Originally posted by tjkraz

Financially, the numbers are very close. In order to get a resale through Disney's Right of First Refusal, you'll probably have to pay $72-74 per point, plus current year's maintenance ($4) plus closing costs ($3-4 per point). That's about $80 per point resale vs. $85 per point at SSR with the 12 extra years.




I would just challenge the math here a bit. $85 is for 2005 points and you will pay dues (pro-rated) as well. Generally, you'll reimburse MF for current year points only. I assume your example above has 2004 points which is why the buyer would reimburse $4. To be fair, I would be inclined to reduce the cost of resale by $6 (rent 2004) rather than increase by 4. I get $70-$72 per point resale vs. $85 SSR, both with 2005 points. If you assume no resale points until 2005, then just ignore the MF issue altogether ($77 vs. $85). However, in some cases you can do much better resale. Twice in the last year we bought contracts resale with 2002-2004 points (latest was just in July). We only reimbursed 2004 dues and rented all the banked points. Our net cost is well under $60 on both and we still have 2004 points.

 

[robinb]

We bought both our DVC memberships on the resale market from A Timeshare Store. Our last salesperson was Pat Spell. She was great .

 

[LIFERBABE]

Many people have an aversion to "paying retail" SSR is very competitive if not more competitive than 99% of the resales on the market today.

They will have you believe the extra 12 years is not worth anything and is actually a liability. If you are not going to pay cash for your DVC purchase then financing is a BIG issue that DVC makes very easy.

Check out the resale boards for desirable contracts (what you want) with banked points that dont have a sale pending.


Also take into consideration, what DVC will build in the future. Just like with OKW (the original DVC resort), DVC as a whole became more valuable with each new resort.

SSR starts phase II of DVC with a new 50 year contract. The resorts that follow will add value to those DVCII points.

Read the ongoing "ROFR" thread to see if purchasing a resale is suited to you. Some people are more patient than others.

And as dis-happy has stated, consider the time. Especially if you have another trip planned and need to make ressies. The time it takes to close a resale could be the difference between your next trip being on points or having to pay cash if you are planning on a busy season.

Im not for one way or the other, but for an informed decision that takes the entire process into consideration.

Good luck and remember, Knowing is half the battle!

 

[spartacus]

If you are plannning to use financing and cash ,I recommend that you buy the lowest available contract from Disney (150) points and finance most of them. This will qualify you for the incentives that are being offered. This gets you in the system right away and you can plan accordingly. If you need more than 150 points fro your first vacation borrow them. No direct cost. No more intial cost outlay and You get the extra 12 years
. NOW, you can put you business mind to work and check for a loaded contract with banked points for a cheaper price and go through the resale process which may take up to 6- 8 weeks before you can be in that system . If you get a smaller contract
60-100 points , you can use your cash TO PAY FOR IT.
As you get older the need to use all the points all the time may drop off, because kids get older, college, and believe it or not there are other places in the world that are okay. If you need to sell you can sell your small reasle contracts more readily. Small resales at other resorts work great.
Sixty points allow for you to bank into the next year and borrow from the followig year for an 180 availabl points plus your annual 150 from Saratoga. this would give you 330 points every 2-3 years for longer or larger family visits. Small contracts make gifting, selling, and using more versatile. I have two small contracts: one for 80 points and one for 32. I purcahsed them both with banked points of 80 and 32 respectively.
With borrowing and banking we can plan to use 160 and bank 32 to the next year to make a small tripfor 64 plus borrow 32 for 96 points You can also transfer points from smalle contracts to larger ones to make a reservation. I you do this try to kee everthing the same use year. It helps .
Good luck

 

[Jacky]

I really appreciate all the input and help and advice. You all seem sooo nice.

Thanks,

Jacky

 

[Jacky]

So, I am confused. If I buy say 200 points at SSR then later a resale at say Wilderness Lodge for 50 points, are they both considered homes where I can make reservations 11 months ahead of time for the whole 250 points?

Thanks again in advance for your alls help

Jacky

 

[Doctor P]

No. You only have the 11 month window for the actual points you have at that resort. In fact, that is the reason we just added on at HH. We really like to stay in studios and at HH they are next to impossible to get at the 7 month window, so an add on anywhere else would not have helped us get what we wanted (since HH has very few studios and 1BR's due to the way the resort was built).

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Jacky
So, I am confused. If I buy say 200 points at SSR then later a resale at say Wilderness Lodge for 50 points, are they both considered homes where I can make reservations 11 months ahead of time for the whole 250 points?

No. You can only book 11 months in advance with points from the given resort.

However, you could use the banking and borrowing features to give you 150 points every 3 years.

Example:

Bank 2005 points: 50
Use 2006 points: 50
Borrow from 2007: 50
Total = 150 pts.

That would ensure that you had a total of 150 to book a room at the 11 month window every 3 years. If you just want to guarantee that you can get that VWL "fix" every few years, this is a very wise way to go. But if you really want to stay a VWL more often than that, forget SSR and just buy at VWL. It's not worth the headache of always trying to book right at 7 months, going on the waitlist, etc.