Several small contracts vs. one large contract ?

[Tinkaroo]

I've been doing my research on DVC as of late, and have seen a few people say that either they have (or wish they had) several smaller contracts at various DVC properties versus one larger contract.

Despite the obvious benefit of having a few different home resorts, what are the pros/cons to this versus buying one contract in the amount of points you think will work best long-term?

Also, can you ever "pool" your points from the various contracts, or would this only work under the 7-month window?

Help?

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I think the reason people say that about multiple contracts is that ifsomething were to happen and you needed to sell then you would have the choice to sell small contracts and still be able if you wanted to keep a contract.Also small is alot more desireable in the resale market.They most always get snatched up very quickly.

Ok, What do you mean pool,like pool OKW points into SSR and have a bigger contract at SSR?This is not possible
Or are you saying about being able to book at the 11 month window,with points from another contract from a diffrent resort?If that is what you are asking then that is not possible either

 

[lisareniff]

I think the reason people say that about multiple contracts is that ifsomething were to happen and you needed to sell then you would have the choice to sell small contracts and still be able if you wanted to keep a contract.Also small is alot more desireable in the resale market.They most always get snatched up very quickly.

I was one that said that on another thread and luvindisney said it perfectly. I bought 300 pts. in one contract. I wish I had split that in 2 contracts (same home resort and UY) so they could be sold easier and seperately if needed.

 

[vascubaguy]

I've been doing my research on DVC as of late, and have seen a few people say that either they have (or wish they had) several smaller contracts at various DVC properties versus one larger contract.

Despite the obvious benefit of having a few different home resorts, what are the pros/cons to this versus buying one contract in the amount of points you think will work best long-term?

Also, can you ever "pool" your points from the various contracts, or would this only work under the 7-month window?

Help?

A pro to only owning one large contract is that you only have one contract to manage and keep up with. You would also have the 11-month advantage at that resort with all of those points.

The big con to owning one large contract is that you can't split up the contract if you ever needed to sell. Also, if you like staying at different resorts, you would be limited to only booking at the 7-month window if you wanted to stay there. Now if normally always stay at your home resort, that isn't a big deal. But if you like BCV for F&W and VWL at Christmas, then you would probably want to have 2 contracts at each of those locations so that you'd have the 11 month booking window.

Some reasons that people like to get multiple contracts:
1. If they ever need to sell, smaller contracts go quick.
2. If you have 3 kids and want to split up the contracts easily.... have 3 contracts (or enough smaller contracts so each child gets the same number of points)
3. To get the 11-month booking advantage at different home resorts

Can you "pool" your points? Well... yes, sortof... maybe...

IF you have all of your points in the same use year, and under the same primary contract, then those points are all considered part of the same pool at 7 months. However, you can not 'pool' them all together at the 11 month window to book a stay. For instance, if you had a 150 pt contract at OKW and SSR, you couldn't book at 11 months and use 300 pts at SSR. You could only book up to 150 of those points for SSR and then at the 7 month window you could use the other 150 pts to book ressies at SSR.

Ok, now if you have multiple contracts with different Use Years (or under completely different contracts), then it isn't as simple to "pool" the points. You actually have to call MS and have them transfer the points from one contract to the other. Now, this isn't that huge of a deal, and can be done, but there are restrictions and limitations. You can't transfer points back and forth between the accounts. You can only transfer one-way in a given year.

Ya know, now that I've typed so much I can't even remember the question... I hope I might have answered some of what you were asking. I think it's past my bedtime and my brain is starting to shut down.

Regardless, I HTH....

 

[Tinkaroo]

A pro to only owning one large contract is that you only have one contract to manage and keep up with. You would also have the 11-month advantage at that resort with all of those points.

The big con to owning one large contract is that you can't split up the contract if you ever needed to sell. Also, if you like staying at different resorts, you would be limited to only booking at the 7-month window if you wanted to stay there. Now if normally always stay at your home resort, that isn't a big deal. But if you like BCV for F&W and VWL at Christmas, then you would probably want to have 2 contracts at each of those locations so that you'd have the 11 month booking window.

Some reasons that people like to get multiple contracts:
1. If they ever need to sell, smaller contracts go quick.
2. If you have 3 kids and want to split up the contracts easily.... have 3 contracts (or enough smaller contracts so each child gets the same number of points)
3. To get the 11-month booking advantage at different home resorts

Can you "pool" your points? Well... yes, sortof... maybe...

IF you have all of your points in the same use year, and under the same primary contract, then those points are all considered part of the same pool at 7 months. However, you can not 'pool' them all together at the 11 month window to book a stay. For instance, if you had a 150 pt contract at OKW and SSR, you couldn't book at 11 months and use 300 pts at SSR. You could only book up to 150 of those points for SSR and then at the 7 month window you could use the other 150 pts to book ressies at SSR.

Ok, now if you have multiple contracts with different Use Years (or under completely different contracts), then it isn't as simple to "pool" the points. You actually have to call MS and have them transfer the points from one contract to the other. Now, this isn't that huge of a deal, and can be done, but there are restrictions and limitations. You can't transfer points back and forth between the accounts. You can only transfer one-way in a given year.

Ya know, now that I've typed so much I can't even remember the question... I hope I might have answered some of what you were asking. I think it's past my bedtime and my brain is starting to shut down.

Regardless, I HTH....

This did help - that was exactly what I was asking, but was having a hard time articulating, as I'm still getting all the lingo and restrictions down. Thanks.

 

[tothebeach9]

great info vascubaguy

 

[castleri]

Having 3 separate contracts at 3 resorts with 2 different UY's has worked for me from the point of being able to get the 11 month window with up to 450-220 points at each if needed by banking and borrowing. That is my solution to "pooling points". The key is planning. That means rotating different resorts if you want to use the 11 month window every year for your stay. I also have the security of knowing that I could sell one of them if my situation made it a necessity. Hopefully that day NEVER comes. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[Dean]

As long as you can buy without increasing costs, I'd always the smallest contracts possible down to 50 or so size. So buying 300 points from DVC, I'd buy 150+50+50+50. Buying resale can increase the cost in this area so you must balance the risk vs benefit. One way to work around this is to buy a smaller contract (?150 or so) resale then add on through DVC. Even with the specials that have a minimum purchase, they will usually split the size contracts up for add ons, say two 60's instead of one 120 pt contract.

 

[Plutofan]

Smaller contracts are easier to sell re-sale since they are hard to come by. Also a lot of people buy small contracts so that when they pass away they can be given to several of their kids. Disney is the only one who can split contracts when they exercise ROFR. If you have a 150 point contract that you leave to your three kids they would have to share the contract since it can not be split into three 50 point contracts.

 

[lisareniff]

Some reasons that people like to get multiple contracts:
1. If they ever need to sell, smaller contracts go quick.
2. If you have 3 kids and want to split up the contracts easily.... have 3 contracts (or enough smaller contracts so each child gets the same number of points)
3. To get the 11-month booking advantage at different home resorts

1a. If you want/need to scale back you vacation habit, perhaps as the kids grow older and you want smaller accomadations (less points), you can sell some of your points instead of all of your points.

 

[spiceycat]

if you buy all your points directly from DVC - no resell contracts - you don't have to worry about polling.

I have 240 points at OKW - 190 in contract, 50 in another - they are treated as DVC as ONE contract.

I also have two 25 points in BWV - again treated as one contract.

It is only if you to resalers that you need to borrow with polling, banking, borrowing (unless of course you want to) - to be able to use your points.
the resalers have to go with the original contract number. So you might end up with 2 or more member numbers...

I like to stay in VWL and BWV in Dec - otherwise I am very, very happy with OKW. So I brought small contracts to be able to do that.