Small contract(s) to start, is this feasible?

[jmbarnes101]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I did what I thought was a thorough search and didn't find anything. So I've been debating buying into DVC for a while and decided to rent first so I have a stay at SS and a stay at VB next month which should help confirm whether I want to do that or not. Originally I had been looking at a 100 point contract but for other reasons, looking to buy a house, I'm now considering a smaller 50-60 point contract, possibly at two places eventually, with a Boardwalk or BCV in fall and a second one would be a SS or VB pretty much any use year other then summer. I would be buying this/these via resale and I'd add on 25 direct points at some point hopefully. If I have two my thought is that I would alternate using them, and bank the other, so I'd have 100-120 points every year at one of the resorts.

My question is does this make sense and has anyone done this? I thought there was a limit on how many points you needed to buy to start a contract so is this allowable or does buying resale nix that? Can I add on direct regardless of how many points I have otherwise and is there anything I'm missing? Thank you folks.

 

[chalee94]

That should work - there is no minimum to being an owner.

You cannot combine pts at 11 months out but since you plan to use them separately, that's not an issue.

Finding small contracts at reasonable prices should be the main challenge.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Buying resale means no minimums - what ever you find for sale and get an accepted offer will be yours if it passes ROFR. Your issue there may be procuring the small BCV or BWV as they go fast when they come up. Really most small contracts go fast when they come up at most of the resorts.

Buying direct is where the minimums come in at whatever DVC has set at that time. What you are thinking is doable as far as use with using banking and/or borrowing to use each contract every other year.

 

[jmbarnes101]

Thank you both. I'm glad my thinking is sound. Now I just need to find a contract or two.

 

[aoconnor]

I did something similar- started with 50 points at AKV and added 110 a year later. The downside of doing it in two transactions is paying closing costs twice (~$450-650 each time) and your use year might not match (not really a huge deal for most people). So cheaper/more convenient to do it in one deal, but if your circumstances don't allow it doing it in two pieces is fine.

 

[disneynutz]

I would stick with WDW resorts. VB has high dues and is subject to damage due to storms. Owners there may have to pay if damage occurs.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

I'd stick with the same use year. With small contracts, I bet you're going to want to combine points at 7 months sometime in the future.

 

[TonyaG83]

I wanted to own at BLT and not have to take a loan, so I found a small 50 pt contract for a reasonable price. I don't regret it since even with closing costs factored in, my cost per point came in at $62 less than Disney direct (plus - they have their own closing costs associated).

In a few months I will have saved up enough to start the search for a similar add-on.

 

[jmbarnes101]

Thank you for the info on VB. I suppose I can always try and get into there if I want to go there for a weekend or something. I'm at the point where I'd have to do a loan for a larger contract or I have almost enough to pay OOP for a smaller contract so that's part of the logic behind the 50 points. I won't be buying tomorrow but I know how I want to focus my search now. I'll look into similar use years for my contracts, thanks for the idea.

 

[jmbarnes101]

I forgot to add my DGF is a cast member. Does anyone know if the discount is such that I'd just be better off buying direct from Disney and forgoing the 25 point purchase later?

 

[disneynutz]

IMO VB is a remote, quiet resort with not much to do except hang out. WDW has so much more to offer and more bang for your vacation dollar.

Bill

 

[jmbarnes101]

Oh for sure, it's partly why I wanted to spend a night there, but I plan on moving to Florida sometime after my kids graduate and it'd be nice to have a place to escape to for a weekend or a couple of days that isn't WDW.

 

[Dean]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I did what I thought was a thorough search and didn't find anything. So I've been debating buying into DVC for a while and decided to rent first so I have a stay at SS and a stay at VB next month which should help confirm whether I want to do that or not. Originally I had been looking at a 100 point contract but for other reasons, looking to buy a house, I'm now considering a smaller 50-60 point contract, possibly at two places eventually, with a Boardwalk or BCV in fall and a second one would be a SS or VB pretty much any use year other then summer. I would be buying this/these via resale and I'd add on 25 direct points at some point hopefully. If I have two my thought is that I would alternate using them, and bank the other, so I'd have 100-120 points every year at one of the resorts.

My question is does this make sense and has anyone done this? I thought there was a limit on how many points you needed to buy to start a contract so is this allowable or does buying resale nix that? Can I add on direct regardless of how many points I have otherwise and is there anything I'm missing? Thank you folks.

I wouldn't buy 2 UY in this situation. I would only buy VB to use there routinely. I'd go back to the one 75-100 pt contract and see how things go. Then if you want VB, you could always add on later and/or buy the retail for VB as a smaller contract.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

What you did is basically what we did. It's just DH and I and we don't want to cook in our room so a studio was good for us. We like to vacation a lot of places besides Disney so we didn't want a large contract as we wouldn't go enough (plus the maintenance fees). We bought a smaller contract initially at BLT which gave us a week every other year.

A couple years later we got into running and what started with going down to WDW for a race weekend turned into a 10 day trip. Buying a smaller contract at SS (which gives us a week to 10 days every other year) was $2k more then what our hotel would have been for that trip. We had the trip planned far enough in advance we knew we could get the contract in place and use the room for that trip. Plus we each gained a 5th week of vacation so we decided we could do Disney annually and still see all the other places we want to go. Or try out Vero or HHI if we could get in.

They are different UY's but it has worked out fine for us. We spent less on these 2 separate contracts then one single one with the same points. LOL and now I'm continuously looking for really low point add ons incase I ever wanted a long weekend. But I bought resale before DVC changed the policy with resale losing benefits so I have no reason to purchase direct through DVC for the add-on at the higher cost.

 

[kboo]

I'm in kind of the same position - our initial contract could be used for shorter trips in a studio at BLT, or with banking/borrowing, every other year for a week in a 1BR at a high demand season. We are going to start with that and see how it goes and if we like it. And if we decide we want more points, or that we HAVE to have a 1BR or bigger each time (which is quite possible), we will probably get a similarly sized contract but with a different home resort and different UY that we could use every other year in a 1BR as well. I think it is doable; I think for us the hardest is waiting on the additional (second) contract! We should be closing this week, and I'm already planning 2018 trips and feeling wistful about having an EP resort as a home resort.