To join or not....thru dvc or resale????

[shelleym]

Hi All...
I'm new to the site and am considering joining dvc. I'm married w/two children (5 and 8). Should we join or not?? We toured SSR and it looks beautiful, but we may prefer being closer to Epcot. It looks like re-sale is alot less expensive, but in purchasing VB or HH are you able to reserve WDW locations without too much difficulty? I don't want to spend the rest of my life vacationing at only WDW, though I love it there. What are the other resorts like and is it difficult to get reservations?
So many questions and decisions! Thanks for any advise....

Shelley

 

[stingmom]

I can answer a couple of your questions regarding resale or direct:

1. buying resale, you do NOT have to purchase the MINIMUN 150 points that direct through Disney requires.

2. buying through resale, you can wait for the "home" property of your choice to pop up (there is a wait list at Disney, but it's a free-for-all with the quickest eye through resale.) The only "home" resort you can purchase today is SSR through Disney.

3. Different "home" properties offer different maintenence fees. (I believe VB is closer to the top of the more expensive ones.

4. Your "home" property you can reserve 11 month in advance and then 7 months in advance for the rest of the properties.

5. Buying direct through Disney, you can finance with no closing costs. Buying resale, there are closing costs (about $400-$500) and you provide your own financing or cash, but you can purchase those smaller point packages.

We just purchased through TSS (board sponsor) and we could not be happier! We only purchased 50 points, but we we still get to enjoy ALL the DVC benfits w/o having to take on a HUGE loan that we woyuld have needed to buy direct through Disney. Plus we got to pick our "home" of OKW!

Good luck with whatever your decision is!!

 

[tamu91]

but we may prefer being closer to Epcot.

Why not try renting points from a member for a BWV or BCV stay on your next trip. Lot less expense way to find out if those resorts is really what you want.

It looks like re-sale is alot less expensive, but in purchasing VB or HH are you able to reserve WDW locations without too much difficulty?

This depends on what season you want to visit. If you're talking about going to BWV/BCV during F&W festival, VWL during Christmas or holidays, it might be difficult to get what you want but not impossible if you plan well ahead meaning exactly at 7 months doing a day to day reservation.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life vacationing at only WDW, though I love it there. What are the other resorts like and is it difficult to get reservations?

Beach properties are obviously difficult to get into during summer peak season. I haven't seen the properties on HH or VB but I heard nothing but complements on both from other DVC members.

VB has the highest dues so that's something to consider. The inital savings might get wiped out in a hurry paying those highly maintenance dues year after year.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

I agree with all of the previous posters advice and want to add one of my own. When you mention that you want to travel other places, I am not sure if you just ment other DVC's like Hilton Head or Vero beach or total other places. If you meant other places not Disney, these kinds of trips are not the best use of points or the most economical ways to travel. Using DVC points for DVC properties is the best and most economical use of DVC points.

 

[BJK]

my advice is to investigate which property is your favorite, and buy there....we bought resale through the timeshare store...we bought at the boardwalk because we liked the boardwalk the best and we couldn't be happier with our decision.....so i wouldn't worry about closing costs, a few hundred dollars is totally insignificant compared with your happiness with the resort you choose....

 

[stacy6552]

The biggest difference between buying SSR through Disney and anywhere else by resale is the life of the contract. Most DVC purchases revert back to Disney in 2042, but for the extra money of buying through Disney, you are getting 12 more years of fun.

Staying at your non-home resort is easy or hard based on when you want to visit and how far in advance you try to book. Last year we got a summer trip to HHI very easily when I booked as soon as the booking window opened. This year I didn't book right away and got waitlisted. Our short notice trip this summer was easy to book for a few nights at BCV and then staying at BWV the rest of the time. Its all in how flexible your are in the short run.

Resales can be time consuming and fustrating, but they are less expensive, if you can get it (Disney has right of first refusal on all contracts). If you travel during peak seasons and really want to stay someplace specific, then you're better off buying where you want to stay.

 

[JimMIA]

The biggest difference between buying SSR through Disney and anywhere else by resale is the life of the contract. Most DVC purchases revert back to Disney in 2042, but for the extra money of buying through Disney, you are getting 12 more years of fun.

This is a little off.

Actually Saratoga Springs contracts expire in January 2054 - whether you buy them direct from Disney or resale

All other resorts expire in January 2042 - whether you buy them direct from Disney or not.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My first advice would be to go ahead and buy as soon as you figure out where you want "home" to be. We had DVC points for 4 years (had to sell last fall) and had points at BWV and VWL. We may be able to buy back in a little at a time, and I'd like to keep those "homes" or go to BCV--we really liked being in the hub of the Epcot/MGM area, and DH loves the VWL (which I also like because I am a sucker for MK). We will do resale this time because I have no desire to buy SSR--I'll be 79 in 2042, so the extra 10 years probably won't do me any good, plus it costs a lot more.
TSS is a good outfit, and so is a timeshare store--we sold through Jaki there. I have at least 3 sites bookmarked while we are "idly" looking, so hopefully when we can definately buy we will be ready. I really miss DVC.
Robin M.

 

[stacy6552]

2054-2042=12.

If you are buying SSR, then buy from Disney. Its unlikely that you will find a deal on SSR that is actually better than buying from Disney. I sure dont see that value once you consider the time and stress of buying resale.

If you want someplace else then you have to buy resale.

So when buying SSR you are getting something tangible for the money, an extra 12 years.

 

[stingmom]

2054-2042=12.

If you are buying SSR, then buy from Disney. Its unlikely that you will find a deal on SSR that is actually better than buying from Disney. I sure dont see that value once you consider the time and stress of buying resale.

If you want someplace else then you have to buy resale.

So when buying SSR you are getting something tangible for the money, an extra 12 years.

some SSR pts just passed ROFR at $80/pt. That's a nice little savings!

RESALE: 150pts x $80/pt = $12,000 + closing of $400-$500
Direct: 150pts x $95/pt = $14,250

I don't know about any of you, but I can find PLENTY to do with an extra $2,000 in my pocket!

 

[Laurajean1014]

It doesn't matter how, just that you want to!

It might be early to say, but WELCOME HOME!

 

[JimMIA]

Hopefully this will help. Click this link for a thread I started several months ago for people considering a DVC purchase. Many DVC vets have made very worhtwhile contributions throughout the thread -- so I'd advise skimming through the whole thing, even though it is multiple pages.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=778634

 

[T.E. Yeary]

Nice number-crunching!!!

Thanks,
Tom

 

[byoung]

Just got BWV from disney on June 14th--no waiting list can not be happier.
Bob

 

[TammyAlphabet]

some SSR pts just passed ROFR at $80/pt. That's a nice little savings!

RESALE: 150pts x $80/pt = $12,000 + closing of $400-$500
Direct: 150pts x $95/pt = $14,250

I don't know about any of you, but I can find PLENTY to do with an extra $2,000 in my pocket!

You may have left out a couple of things:

1. Disney incentives of 8 dollars per point will reduce the total of 90 dollars per points
2. with the Disney deal, no MF's until next year
3. No closing costs

So 90*150 is 13,500, then subtract the MF's for the current year of 575, which brings the effective total through Disney to 12,925. Compare that to 12500 (including closing costs) when buying resale. So the 2000 has been whittled down to 500 more or less.

Not much savings considering the number of weeks that you have to wait to get in Disney's system. If you purchase directly through Disney, you can make reservations almost immediately!! To each his own I always say!

Now, for VB or HH, I would say that resale is absolutely the way to go. And if you don't mind staying mostly at SSR and OKW when you visit the WDW, then a resale there would be a great and less expensive alternative.

Good Luck with your decision!

 

[iankh]

I went through a similar decision this past winter. I started thinking about buying into DVC yet again and considered SSR. They were offering special incentives back in February.

I finally opted for a resales that I purchased via the TTS for a number of reasons:

1. Getting the home resort I wanted (VWL) rather than settling for what was available
2. I knew that I did was not going to finance
3. A lower point cost than buying at SSR (I paid $76 a point for my resale purchase)

The only key differences that I can discern were:

1. I paid closing costs, but still came out ahead over an SSR purchase
2. Having to wait out ROFR

I later did buy I small add-on (37 points) via DVC, because at such a low number, I came out better than a resale after adding on the $400 closing costs.

 

[Disney Doll]

Basically, the way we figured it out was that if we were going to be going to WDW at least every other year, then it was worthwhile to purchase. DVC offers trade-outs to other timeshare programs, but trading is not the best use of points. Point costs when you go to the other timeshare programs are greater than if you stay within the DVC resorts.

That being said, they are your points and so you can use them any way you wish. Just be aware that if it costs you 10 points per night to stay at OKW(not a real figure...made up for example's sake), to stay at the Fancy Schmacy Hotel in Honolulu is going to cost you 50 points per night. That's what I mean by point cost.

Joining through Disney gives you the benefit of being able to extend the length of your loan over up to 10 years if you so desire. When DH & I bought our first contract, we bought through Disney. We took a 10 year loan. Our reasoning was that it gave us the cheapest monthly payment. We figured we could always pay more each month and pay it off more quickly than 10 years, but if we had a month where money was "tight" all we had to pay was the relatively inexpensive monthly payment amount. That strategy worked very well for us, since we had it paid off within about 3-4 years, instead of 10.

When we bought our 2nd contract, we bought through The Timeshare Store. It was an OKW resale, and the entire transaction took about 6 or 7 weeks start to finish, was very easy. Pat Spell was our agent. We had cash to purchase the 2nd contract, so we paid it off immediately. I have known folks who have bought a resale using a home equity line of credit or a home equity loan, to get the tax benefits. I have known folks who have used their Disney VISA card to buy it, which gives them all the reward $$, and then paid off their Disney VISA the next month with a home equity line of credit or a home equity loan, and then they get the tax benefit as well.

If you like vacationing at Disney at least every other year(as I said above), if you like a nicer accomodation than a regular hotel room (IMHO, DVC properties are at least equivalent to deluxe hotels at WDW), if it is fionancially feasible, then it would probably be a good purchase for you.

 

[OneMoreTry]

Buy only if you feel comfortable with your purchase. Don't buy at HH unless you visit first, IMO. (You may like it better than WDW.) In fact, I wouldn't buy ANY of the properties unless I had checked them out personally. If you want to spend your vacations wandering around Epcot and the Boardwalk or lounging at Stormalong bay, then buy at BWV or BCV. Otherwise you may prefer OKW. I can't comment about SSR because I haven't been there, but I suspect it will be on par with the other resorts.

 

[shelleym]

What is IMO???

 

[bobbiwoz]

In my opinion? That's what I take it to be!

Bobbi