Resale or Direct Purchase?

[MARCIAKAZ]

Hi All! DH and I are planning for our DVC purchase...Will you please share your opinions regarding the advantages of purchasing resale and advantages of purchasing direct? We know the obvious ones--direct gets a longer term contract, and resale you can buy where you want to stay. What else? Financing will be a factor, as we will only be able to put about 20% down.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[MILLZ]

Have never bought resale but the direct approach was so easy for my wife and I. I am in finance and this was by far the most user friendly process ive been involved in. Also you mentioned buy where you want to stay my opinion only is people get to wrapped up in that. We are a young couple so the extra years was more of a benefit to us. Which left us the option of saratoga and we love it. The other reason we chose there was for future trips when were much older its a little more adult friendly.

 

[drusba]

Your post actually raises one of the most important issues with buying from Disney and resale -- financing the sale. Disney provides financing for those who qualify. For resale you have to go find it. Many use a home equity loan on existing home (which gives a rate even less than Disney). Otherwise financing for a timeshare loan is usually at rates that are not very appealing; Disney's are high in comparison to a home loan but lower than a timeshare loan in the market.

Other factors: (a) resale per point prices are generally lower than Disney; (b) resale is usually the better way to go if you want sold out resorts -- OKW, BWV, BCV or VWL; (c) with resale you can negotiate price, who pays closing costs, and who absorbs current year dues, Disney does not negotiate -- it often has incentives applicable generally to all buyers but it will not cut any special deal for one buyer; (d) with resale, you should look carefully at what you are actually getting -- many times there are stripped contracts where the seller has already used current year points and borrowed the next year's meaning you don't get any use for at least a year; that does not mean you cannot buy just that you should know what you are getting into and negotiate price accordingly; (e) with Disney you can make ressies right after you buy and before you close, with resale you have to wait until after closing (not a big deal for most).

 

[Coach81]

For my family we went resale for a couple of reasons.

1. Price- we saved about 5 - 6 thousand on our purchase.
2. Finance- we worked out a real good home equity loan that we can afford.
3. Convenience- TSS does a great job of explaining things and working with you every step of the way.

Our contract should pass ROFR in the next 2 days or so, then we will be treated just like every other DVCer!!!

 

[PIERCEDRN]

Hi All! DH and I are planning for our DVC purchase...Will you please share your opinions regarding the advantages of purchasing resale and advantages of purchasing direct? We know the obvious ones--direct gets a longer term contract, and resale you can buy where you want to stay. What else? Financing will be a factor, as we will only be able to put about 20% down.

Thanks in advance!!

If time is a factor for you, consider buying direct. A resale takes a looong time, some lucky people complete it in 7.5 weeks. Waiting for my points from my resale is driving me nuts! If you buy direct it can be done in days.
bob

 

[LisaS]

We know the obvious ones--direct gets a longer term contract, and resale you can buy where you want to stay.

Buying direct does not get you a longer-term contract. The end date for any particular resort is the same whether you purchase from Disney or via resale. If you purchase SSR from Disney the end date is Jan 31, 2054 and all SSR resale contracts will have that same end date. If you purchase BWV from Disney the end date is Jan 31, 2042, if you purchase BWV on the resale market you get the same end date. Currently the longest contracts are at AKV with an end date of Jan 31, 2057. Once AKV contracts start appearing on the resale market, they will have that same end date.

And you can "buy where you want to stay" directly from Disney as well as via resale (although it would be very difficult to find an AKV resale!) You must purchase a minimum of 160 points. Current prices for new members are as follows:

AKV, SSR = $104 - $8 incentive = $96 **
BCV = $101
BWV, VWL = $98
OKW, HH and VB = $92

** ETA: The incentive for SSR might be $10/pt not $8/pt. Anybody know for sure?

 

[MARCIAKAZ]

Wow! I didn't realize you could buy the sold-out resorts direct from Disney. I guess that's what ROFR is all about. And I thought that was a princess hat!

Do you happen to know if they have a readily available supply of points for those purchases? I bet their incentive offers only apply to SSR/AKV. Hmmm...maybe the best of both worlds...

 

[LisaS]

Wow! I didn't realize you could buy the sold-out resorts direct from Disney. I guess that's what ROFR is all about. And I thought that was a princess hat!

Do you happen to know if they have a readily available supply of points for those purchases? I bet their incentive offers only apply to SSR/AKV. Hmmm...maybe the best of both worlds...

When you purchase one of the "sold out" resorts (anything other than SSR and AKV) there are no incentives. The supply of points varies, with BCV being the most limited. You can go on a waiting list for any of the resorts if points are not immediately available. Depending on the resort and which Use Year(s) you are looking for, you could end up waiting for several months or you could get the points immediately. There is a thread where people post their "wait times" for points. If you don't see a resort listed, it's probably because points are generally available immediately.

Here is a link to the "wait time" thread, just go to the end and work backwards to see the most recent information: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=735842

 

[MARCIAKAZ]

Thank you, thank you, thank you !!

 

[disneymomto5]

Just as a thought, our resale took 3 weeks from beginning to end!

 

[HockeyKat]

We bought resale through the Timeshare Store. The financing point brought up above is NOT TRUE, at least for that reseller.

They helped us arrange timeshare financing, and the rate was actually better than Disney's, at 9.95% on a 5 yr loan, where Disney was 10.75%. The 10 yr loan rate was about the same, 10.75% through WDW and 10.95% through resale. The process was as easy as filling out an application. We chose the 5 yr loan because it saved about 7-8K in interest, even though the payment was $100-150 higher per month. Plus you are done that much quicker!

If you are buying a sold out resort, a contract at or over 160 pts, and have the 20% in cash to put down, the only advantage to going direct is the time to close. It does take 6-8 weeks before you can make ressies. If you lowball the offer and take that chance, failing ROFR can also make the process longer.

Price per point for us for BWV was $85, which is still a reasonable offer. Through Disney was $95, now $98. Closing costs were about $200 higher than Disney. Cost savings for us was about $2500 w/ today's prices, $2K with the price in effect when we made the offer.

 

[Hillbilly]

I bought a resale at BCV in 2004 for 93/pt (200 pts). We got a second mortage loan out and paid it off within 2 years. This really worked for us since the interest rates were so much better than any other financing available, plus you can use 20% of the maintenance fees toward property tax for income tax. We repeated this again for a OKW contract for 73/pt (200pts) again last year. Now we decided that the offer for AKV at 93/pt for members wasn't too bad since an add on resale at Beach Club would be about the same.

I'll be lucky to have my teeth when my AKV contract expires, maybe even lucky to be alive by then....But I'm sure someone in my family will enjoy the fact that I bought there. DVC rules, anyway you decide to go!!

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

So Disney will sell sold out resorts to non-DVC members? I think the best reason for selecting a sold out resort would be the lower maintenance fees. This will effect the overall cost of ownership over the life of the contract more than the selling price does. I like the idea of buying into something like OKW as it has lower yearly fees and it expires in 2042. I'll be 80 by then, why would I need another 15 years?

I've been checking the resale market but the idea of buying exactly the number of points you need and not buying possibly stripped down points has appeal.