Sanity Check: Add-On Direct After Initial Resale Purchase

[LittleBitGoofy]

We're considering purchasing a mix of Resale and Direct points with our first foray into DVC so I was hoping to ask for a sanity check to make sure I wasn't going down an expensive path that didn't end as we intended.

We are interested in both VGF and BCV (same UY). VGF for our annual getaway weekend and BCV for our family trips. Since VGF is actively doing direct I was thinking of building toward our Blue Card status (I wavered on pursuing this, but I know me and my FOMO would be a delayed hit). But we don't need 150 pts at VGF for one weekend a year and my understanding is BCV sells out quickly so we'd need that to be our Home for the best odds at getting those reservations.

Is it correct that we could buy a resale of BCV to get our foot in the door and become Members and then do a Direct Add-On with VGF of a smaller contract, 50 pts?

If that does work for letting us buy below the entry-level 150 pts direct with just 50 pts of VGF direct after doing a BCV resale, could we incrementally add on 50 pts of VGF until we hit the 150 pt mark to qualify for Blue Card (given the assumption they don't up the 150 minimum requirement)? The 150 pts don't have to be all at once, right?

And with Direct, we can select our UY to match up with the Resale points we already purchased, right?

Anything else I may not have considered that we should keep in mind with this approach? Thanks in advance.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Checks out.

Just consider the additional costs of adding on at VGF in chunks since you lose incentive pricing and have additional closing costs.

 

[Sandisw]

That is the way it works, Be aware that the resale points will not be good at RIV and future resorts, even if you add direct points…only those will be valid for those kinds of stays.

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

Greatly appreciated. Thank you both.

So with the VGF pursuit of Blue Card, if we did 50 pts + 50 pts + 50 pts to hit the 150pt mark what happens if/when down the road DVC increases to need, say, 200 pts minimum to be a Blue Card? We would just be grandfathered in on our account but if we ever sold one of our 50 pts (these would each be separate contracts, right?) then we'd lose the BC status. Is that right?

And of course, the risk of this incremental approach is if it goes up from 150 pts while we're building up to it then we have to buy extra that we didn't anticipate. Does DVC give a heads-up in advance of those sorts of minimum requirements being increased?

 

[pianomanzano]

Greatly appreciated. Thank you both.

So with the VGF pursuit of Blue Card, if we did 50 pts + 50 pts + 50 pts to hit the 150pt mark what happens if/when down the road DVC increases to need, say, 200 pts minimum to be a Blue Card? We would just be grandfathered in on our account but if we ever sold one of our 50 pts (these would each be separate contracts, right?) then we'd lose the BC status. Is that right?

And of course, the risk of this incremental approach is if it goes up from 150 pts while we're building up to it then we have to buy extra that we didn't anticipate. Does DVC give a heads-up in advance of those sorts of minimum requirements being increased?

If you're going direct first before the resale purchase, your first contract has to be 150 pts (can't break it out into 50 pt contracts). Re: grandfathering, I understood it to mean that you were grandfathered if you were currently blue card, but not if you were still in the process of obtaining it (if that's what you're asking).

Advance notice isn't guaranteed. The jump to 125 there was no prior notice and for 150 there was a couple days notice.

 

[Sandisw]

Greatly appreciated. Thank you both.

So with the VGF pursuit of Blue Card, if we did 50 pts + 50 pts + 50 pts to hit the 150pt mark what happens if/when down the road DVC increases to need, say, 200 pts minimum to be a Blue Card? We would just be grandfathered in on our account but if we ever sold one of our 50 pts (these would each be separate contracts, right?) then we'd lose the BC status. Is that right?

And of course, the risk of this incremental approach is if it goes up from 150 pts while we're building up to it then we have to buy extra that we didn't anticipate. Does DVC give a heads-up in advance of those sorts of minimum requirements being increased?

lf you buy three contracts to reach the membership extras minimum, and then sell one of those, you will no longer be eligible and have to purchase more direct to reach whatever that is.

As long as you hold the specific contracts that made you eligible for membership extras. You qualify.

The BCV contract is not eligible for membership extras so what you do with VGF doesn’t have anything to do with that contract.

 

[Cfabar1]

Keep in mind Membership Extras are only guaranteed contractually for 3 years from the contract date. DVC reserves the right to remove or add membership extras at any time. Given your travel pattern, I would consider them very carefully to see if you would get your use out of them. It sounds like you are doing 1 weekend trip and maybe 1 week long trip a year.

Now, the convenience and ease of adding on direct, and being able to use those points at Riviera as well, and whatever BCV/BW look like after 2042…. That could be great and maybe worth the direct premium.

 

[Sandisw]

Keep in mind Membership Extras are only guaranteed contractually for 3 years from the contract date. DVC reserves the right to remove or add membership extras at any time. Given your travel pattern, I would consider them very carefully to see if you would get your use out of them. It sounds like you are doing 1 weekend trip and maybe 1 week long trip a year.

Now, the convenience and ease of adding on direct, and being able to use those points at Riviera as well, and whatever BCV/BW look like after 2042…. That could be great and maybe worth the direct premium.

To clarify…the language is three years or less…so no benefit is required at any set time after you purchase a contract.

 

[BlueIsis]

To tag onto this question (sorry for the highjack - will start a different thread if that's more appropriate)...if you want to buy say 200 points direct; can you break it into four 50 point contracts (bought simultaneously) and still get the incentives for 200 points?

 

[kilik64]

To tag onto this question (sorry for the highjack - will start a different thread if that's more appropriate)...if you want to buy say 200 points direct; can you break it into four 50 point contracts (bought simultaneously) and still get the incentives for 200 points?

Yup, will just have to pay more in closing costs vs buying all as one contract.

 

[pianomanzano]

To tag onto this question (sorry for the highjack - will start a different thread if that's more appropriate)...if you want to buy say 200 points direct; can you break it into four 50 point contracts (bought simultaneously) and still get the incentives for 200 points?

You can only break it into four 50 point contracts if you're an existing member. If you're a new member the first contract has to be 150 points, so in this instance you could split it up into a 150 and a 50pt contract.

 

[SrBlonde]

lf you buy three contracts to reach the membership extras minimum, and then sell one of those, you will no longer be eligible and have to purchase more direct to reach whatever that is.

As long as you hold the specific contracts that made you eligible for membership extras. You qualify.

The BCV contract is not eligible for membership extras so what you do with VGF doesn’t have anything to do with that contract.

Are the 25 and 50 point contracts seen in the resale market “add on” contracts?

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

Are the 25 and 50 point contracts seen in the resale market “add on” contracts?

Probably so, or older ones when the sub-150 entry point existed.

 

[SrBlonde]

Probably so, or older ones when the sub-150 entry point existed.

Can an existing contract be broken into smaller ones?

 

[Sandisw]

Are the 25 and 50 point contracts seen in the resale market “add on” contracts?

Most likely they were bought by owners as add ons to membership..but there was a time where they allowed people to get 50 points as a new owner. It wasn’t published but if people pushed they were allowed.

 

[SrBlonde]

Most likely they were bought by owners as add ons to membership..but there was a time where they allowed people to get 50 points as a new owner. It wasn’t published but if people pushed they were allowed.

Oh I wish that were still the case!

 

[Sandisw]

Can an existing contract be broken into smaller ones?

Once a contract is created it can’t be broken down when sold to another owner. When DVD takes points back, they dissolve the contract and put the points back into the larger pool of points to be sold.

But, points come from units so even DVD has to have enough deeded to a unit to make it work

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

But, points come from units so even DVD has to have enough deeded to a unit to make it work

I like to think that I own 1/8 of a bathtub somewhere in Saratoga Springs.

 

[SrBlonde]

Once a contract is created it can’t be broken down when sold to another owner. When DVD takes points back, they dissolve the contract and put the points back into the larger pool of points to be sold.

But, points come from units so even DVD has to have enough deeded to a unit to make it work

So a gratuitous transfer would be for the entire contract, right? If the owner wants to remain a DVC blue card, the owner would need to have other contracts that qualify, right? If the transferred contract even if it were less than 150, if it qualifies for the blue card on it’s own will retain that status following the gratuitous transfer.

 

[CarolynFH]

So a gratuitous transfer would be for the entire contract, right? If the owner wants to remain a DVC blue card, the owner would need to have other contracts that qualify, right? If the transferred contract even if it were less than 150, if it qualifies for the blue card on it’s own will retain that status following the gratuitous transfer.

A gratuitous transfer could be the entire contract, or it could mean simply adding the new person as a co-owner with the original owner(s) - for instance, some owners add their adult children to their deed but remain owners with them, some owners transfer the entire ownership to their adult children and take their own names off the deed. The adult children are eligible for Membership Extras either way, if the contract they become owners of is eligible for Membership Extras. And yes, some contracts less than 150 points do maintain eligibility for Membership Extras because they were purchased before the various cutoff dates (there are so many!) that would exclude them today.