Should we wait to purchase? (again)

[jcnewton]

My fiancee and I had a consultation back in December, did the tour and everything...but financially at the time, it wasn't the right choice. Now, things might be different...but we were worried about what we were told. Basically if we wait too long, we wouldn't be able to buy in because home resorts would be full. Number were thrown out like AKL was at 98% capacity and VGF was selling like hotcakes so 6 months later when we'll be there in June, they might be gone. Aulani might be the only thing left but basically useless to us. Can anyone corroborate these numbers? We loved VGF and would love to have that as our home, but we might just have to wait and jump on Poly.

 

[Msmithmd]

They're, to say it gently, not telling you the truth.

DVC sells every resort direct. Even OKW, which was the first resort, still sells direct.

The salesperson gets a bigger commission to sell you Aulani or VGF. So he won't tell you that you can buy the others unless you insist.

And you wouldn't want to buy anything besides VGF or possibly VGC from the salesman anyway, since pretty much everything else can be bought resale for $30-70 less than he can sell it to you direct.

If you've never seen the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, you should. "Always be closing."

The premise holds fully for any timeshare. DVC is lower pressure than most, but in the end all timeshare salespeople only get to eat, when they close you on the contract.

Best advice I can give you: now that you're in a position to buy, spend 3-6 months reviewing this board actively, to learn all you can about what to do and what not to do, before you purchase.

 

[jcnewton]

They're, to say it gently, not telling you the truth.

DVC sells every resort direct. Even OKW, which was the first resort, still sells direct.

The salesperson gets a bigger commission to sell you Aulani or VGF. So he won't tell you that you can buy the others unless you insist.

And you wouldn't want to buy anything besides VGF or possibly VGC from the salesman anyway, since pretty much everything else can be bought resale for $30-70 less than he can sell it to you direct.

If you've never seen the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, you should. "Always be closing."

The premise holds fully for any timeshare. DVC is lower pressure than most, but in the end all timeshare salespeople only get to eat, when they close you on the contract.

Best advice I can give you: now that you're in a position to buy, spend 3-6 months reviewing this board actively, to learn all you can about what to do and what not to do, before you purchase.

Thanks for the info! I had a feeling that couldn't possibly be the case. All DVC resorts nearing capacity? I was wondering what the salespeople would do then since their income is surely commission-based. I feel like the guy was pretty straight with us on other things, but told us that to get us to sign that day. With the wedding coming in two months (at WDW), we'll revisit our numbers. We're thinking this might be a wedding gift to ourselves!

 

[Dean]

My fiancee and I had a consultation back in December, did the tour and everything...but financially at the time, it wasn't the right choice. Now, things might be different...but we were worried about what we were told. Basically if we wait too long, we wouldn't be able to buy in because home resorts would be full. Number were thrown out like AKL was at 98% capacity and VGF was selling like hotcakes so 6 months later when we'll be there in June, they might be gone. Aulani might be the only thing left but basically useless to us. Can anyone corroborate these numbers? We loved VGF and would love to have that as our home, but we might just have to wait and jump on Poly.

You should compare to resale at larger sold out resorts, esp SSR. You can get the same points there for less than half that of VGF or Poly with cheaper yearly dues. Just compare to what you're giving up, mostly the ability to get into the most difficult options assuming you'd buy there otherwise, for example, you likely couldn't get VGF or the Poly most of the time owning at other resorts. They'll also tell you that you lose the ability to trade to other options and that is true in many cases though I'd point out that those exchange options are not a good value and certainly not worth paying more to buy in for as well as not being guaranteed options.

 

[rpk1951]

Even in sold out resorts they still buy back points to fill orders. You may need to wait a short period, but doubt it would be too long.

 

[Nabas]

My fiancee and I had a consultation back in December, did the tour and everything...but financially at the time, it wasn't the right choice. Now, things might be different...but we were worried about what we were told. Basically if we wait too long, we wouldn't be able to buy in because home resorts would be full. Number were thrown out like AKL was at 98% capacity and VGF was selling like hotcakes so 6 months later when we'll be there in June, they might be gone. Aulani might be the only thing left but basically useless to us. Can anyone corroborate these numbers? We loved VGF and would love to have that as our home, but we might just have to wait and jump on Poly.

One thing to be aware of is VGF prices are going up from $155/point to $165/point in June. Since it might be years before prices come down on the resale market for VGF, if you want to own there and don't want to wait years for lower prices on the resale market, now would be a good time to buy at VGF.

However, if you prefer the Poly, then just wait for it. It should be offered for sale some time in 2015.

If you want to save money and aren't set on VGF or the Poly, then look at the resale market, where you can save many thousands of dollars.

 

[bakerworld]

We learned owning a specific place works if you are booking vacations 9 to 11 months out - and the 'hotter' a venue is the harder they are to book, regardless of ownership. This was very hard for us to understand and I think is a 'symptom' of everything being sold and only available via resale.

We were use to cash vacations where you take advantage of special offers 2 and 3 months but those no longer exist for the DVC member. PLANNING is the name of this game.

 

[disneynutz]

Our biggest mistake was thinking that we knew which resort was our favorite. That may not seem important now but in a few years you will probably spend more time at your resort and less time in the parks.

We toured all of the resorts and stayed in a couple of them but seeing, reading about them and repeatedly staying there are different things.

We own AKV, BLT, BCV, BWV, VGF, and VWL and have stayed multiple times at all of the resorts. After experiencing all of the pros and cons, our family would be happy just owning and staying at the following resorts.

VWL, MK area, love the rustic feel and quiet.

VGF, MK area, love the décor and amenities.

BWV, Epcot/DHS area, love the resort and boardwalk view.

All resorts will always be available via resale.

Bill

 

[com_op_2000]

There are multiple VGF available for resale on the TTS web-site, check it out. If that is the resort your heart is set on.

 

[Tdisney]

Stay at as many of the DVC resorts as you can then purchase resale. Vgf are already being sold on the resale market. The rooms at VGf are very nice however We own at BCV. And like the area more .

 

[Fantasia79]

My opinion, there will always be something cool and new looming with DVC. There's no way they are interested in shutting off the flow of cash they're seeing right now.

I do think current price per point values will only go up though. If you look at the DVC history, I think it's a clear trend for the foreseeable future. I think they'll be setting poly fairly high.

We bought direct and are really happy. I'm sure resale is just as fantastic with some savings though.

Best of luck on a tough decision!

 

[HokieGCC]

There is no good reason to rush into anything. The suggestion to read read read from this board is a good one. In the meantime you ca still go to Disney w/o DVC just fine.