Touring Bay Lake tomorrow, questions to ask, advice?

[4DisneyAddicts]

Going for the tour, only interested in bay lake, need advice on what to ask.
Is there any negotiating?

 

[Deb & Bill]

You'll pay what they are asking. No negotiating. They may be able to get you a reservation if you buy now and the dates you want are already booked up (like Thanksgiving or December). And you could make the sale contingent on them getting you the dates you need.

 

[JimMIA]

Buy resale and save yourself $50-$60 per point.

You're going to be asked to pay $140 per point with minimal or no incentives. If you look at BLT in the ROFR thread, you'll see that you should have no problem clearing ROFR in the low $80 range, and one sale recently cleared at under $70. Here's a link: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=40023919&postcount=1

Buying resale will take a little time (usually 6-8 weeks, although there have been reports recently of it only taking 4 weeks), but the savings will be huge. If you buy 200 points and pay $85 instead of $140, that's a savings of $11,000!

Nothing the DVC timeshare salesman offers you is going to be worth that much of a saving. The only thing you'll lose buying resale is the ability to waste your points on unreasonably-priced options outside of DVC (cruises, other Disney hotels, etc.)

Also, if you mention resale to the timeshare salesman, ignore everything they say from that point on. They're timeshare salesmen!

 

[cloudnut220]

If you want BLT and you want to buy direct, I would say now is the time. I talked to my guide last week (I'm a BLT owner) and he reminded me that they really are close to sellout. I also think there might be incentives right now that are going away July 2.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

If you do decide to buy direct from Disney - be sure to have a current member refer you. In the past there have been small discounts for being referred, and at a minimum the person who refers you gets a bonus.

I would also say be sure to ask anything that comes to mind - there are no bad questions!

 

[4DisneyAddicts]

Thanks for your thoughts. Is it true that the interest rate is nearly 12%?. Can you secure your own financing? What do closing costs typically cone out to be?

 

[chalee94]

Is it true that the interest rate is nearly 12%?

only if you have a good credit score, otherwise it is worse.

Can you secure your own financing?

you can but timeshares typically don't retain any value so sensible banks are very careful about lending to finance them. if a bank is willing to make you an unsecured loan, you can do that (for a high interest rate) or you can put your house on the line to buy a timeshare (not recommended) and use an equity line or something.

What do closing costs typically cone out to be?

only a few hundred dollars IIRC. maybe a hundred or 2 less than closing costs for a resale.

with resales you lose the option to trade for cruises and disney hotels (not usually a good value anyway). you can still trade through RCI - but read the 500 kingdoms thread for more info there.

keep in mind that if you pay $140 per pt to buy direct, if you ever need to sell, you will still be selling a resale and cannot transfer the additional perks like trading for cruises (or whatever else DVC decides to cut from resales). if DVC cuts other benefits, it may make your contract worth even less than the current $50-ish drop when you go to sell. (and now you understand why banks don't care to be on the hook if you want to buy a timeshare...)

 

[JimMIA]

Thanks for your thoughts. Is it true that the interest rate is nearly 12%?.

I believe the lowest Disney rate is 10.75% and the other rate is 14.75%. Both pretty high, IMHO.

Can you secure your own financing?

Yes, for either direct or resale purchases. There is a company that finances resales, and I believe there is a link for them on the Timeshare Store site (see top of this page). You can also use your own sources, including a home equity loan.

What do closing costs typically cone out to be?

If you look at the listings on the Timeshare Store site, you'll see the closing costs clearly specified. Those will be the approximate range, no matter which resale broker you deal with. As Charles noted, Disney's closing costs will be somewhat lower than that, but the couple hundred bucks you save on closing will be quickly swallowed up by the HUGE difference in sales price.

If you are going to finance, be sure to calculate the interest for the entire period of the loan and add that to your purchase price to get an accurate picture of what you're really buying.

So if you buy 200 points @ $120 and finance for 5 years at 10.75%, your total price is really almost $31,000, not just the $24,000 points cost. Obviously, if you pay more than $120 (which you probably will if you buy direct), the cost goes way up.

Personally, if I had to pay $110-$120 per point for DVC and finance at 11%, I wouldn't buy. But I don't know anything about your finances, so I can't really judge.

 

[htmlkid]

If you want BLT and you want to buy direct, I would say now is the time. I talked to my guide last week (I'm a BLT owner) and he reminded me that they really are close to sellout. I also think there might be incentives right now that are going away July 2.

There are almost 800,000 points still available and they have been averaging 100,000 in sales per month and I bet that figure will slow with the higher pricing. That means they still have at least 8 months to go to sell out.

Don't get pressured by thinking there won't be any points available!!!!!

 

[Breyean]

If you do decide to buy direct from Disney - be sure to have a current member refer you. In the past there have been small discounts for being referred, and at a minimum the person who refers you gets a bonus.

I can vouch for this. My sister just bought BLT a couple of weeks ago, using me as her reference. She got a couple more $$/point off the Aulani webcast incentive and I will be getting $200 from Disney (I think a gift card) for being the reference.

BUT, she bought despite me doing my best to steer her toward a resale. I even explained that I was doing a resale myself, but since this was her first DVC contract she really wanted it to be through Disney.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[mjc2003]

I would ask some hard questions about the quality of the rooms and the building in general. There have been way too many threads about cheap building materials, scratched furnishings, laminate tables that are falling apart; this is supposed to be a a "new" building. Why have there been so many complaints about the quality of the furnishings and the building in general? If they tell you this is not the case, then they are lying. Tell them you don't want them to dismiss the issue, but you want to know what they plan to do about it.

 

[thepops]

I'd ask them if you could look at a couple of "real" rooms, not just the ones they use to show prospective buyers. Then you could judge the quality of the furnishings yourself.

 

[mjc2003]

I'd ask them if you could look at a couple of "real" rooms, not just the ones they use to show prospective buyers. Then you could judge the quality of the furnishings yourself.

I would be leery of this, as who knows if they know which "real rooms" are staged to look more presentable.

Bottom line is that the list of complaints about the lack of quality furnishings, distressed rugs and worn appearance of several rooms should be enough to warrant a concern and some questions. At least it would from me. Even if they show you some "real" rooms, those are not likely to be the room you end up staying in. My concern would be less about them being able to procure one tidy room then the overall issue that has been raised repeatedly and consistently on these DVC boards by reasonable DVC members. It sounds like it's just a matter of time before you get a room that has issues; why not find out now, before plunking down thousands of dollars, if DVD has specific plans to eradicate this issue?

BLT is brand new, for all intents and purposes. Issues related to wear and tear should be a HUGE concern, b/c they are only going to get worse. There are 20 year old DVC resorts that elicit less commentary on the shape and quality of the furnishings.

 

[Sir Aaron]

Disney has made an annoucement that is believes it will sell out of BLT shortly. That said, you have missed the good incentives. They ended the referral pricing so your price point is probably going to be a firm $140 points.

You cannot, as a general rule, negotiate the price. However, you might tell the guide you aren't buying direct unless you get the referral incentives and the developer credits available a couple weeks ago. You can also try to get VISA gift cards, fastpasses, and other minor items for purchasing. But if you're going to play that game you have to be prepared to walk if you have to.

Resale is an option. You lose the ability to pay for cruises, etc. with your DVC points but many believe that is a waste of money. You probably wont get BLT at $70 or $80 per point, most listings now show about $95 to $110 pp. BLT and VGC have held their value pretty well. But you never know. The more recent postings show an extremely low pp considering all the previous sales. With resale you'll probably have to wait a lot longer to get the number of points you want in the UY you want at the price you want, not to mention the ROFR process. Is it worth the money. Sure, but just be prepared.

As for financing, resellers have options to finance you. Good credit is a must. Taking out a Home Equity Loan is a good option too (you can get much lower interest rates and a longer term).

 

[JimMIA]

I would ask some hard questions about the quality of the rooms and the building in general.

Realistically, I don't think anyone who is considering paying $120-$140 per point direct (or $80 or so resale) for BLT is going to be swayed away from what they want by cheap furniture. People pay a very high price -- both in terms of initial buy-in prices and in nightly points costs -- for being on the monorail.

Folks can, and should, complain about shoddy, cheap construction...but I don't think it's going to drive anyone to another home resort or cause them not to purchase DVC.

 

[CPTJAK]

I second the suggestion to buy resale.

I would not buy direct from Disney, the costs are too high and you save a lot of money going resale without losing any "valuable" benefits.

In fact I would argue you are better off without these "valuable benefits" it keeps you from using points on something you can get for much less without using any points.

 

[DonnaL]

I'm assuming you have already stayed at BLT? If not, please take a good hard look at the entire place. As another poster has said, the building is less than two years old and the quality of the furnishings, cabinetry, etc. is far less than I would expect. We stayed there January, 2010 when the building was open less than six months and the 2 bdrm lockoff we were assigned was an absolute mess considering the accommodations were in use less than six months. Plus, I did not get a warm "welcome home" feeling at all when entering the lobby of BLT as I do at the other DVC resorts. The lobby area feels cold and unwelcoming to say the least.....very contemporary I will give you that.......but, also very cold. Needless to say, we will NOT ever stay at BLT again. We have been DVC members for over 10 years and have stayed at all the DVC resorts onsite at WDW....some multiple times.....since we visit usually twice a year, sometimes three times. We definitely favor some over others, but, I will continue to stay at any of them again in the future......except BLT.......not only because of poor quality furnishings in the units, but, the general feel of the place.

 

[SamiL]

Here's a link to the Timeshare Store BLT resales:
http://www.dvc-resales.com/dvclisting-baylaketower.cfm

Yes, a lot of the contracts for sale there are stripped, but even if you bought one at $99 per point and then paid $25 per point to rent the points from DVC (or less--like $12--to have them transferred from another member) you'd come out ahead.

If you ever want to stay at a Disney Collection hotel you can rent your points to someone else and use the cash to book a reservation.

Plus if you ever sell your contract you'll lose about $40 less per point.

Whatever you decide, congratulations and an early "Welcome Home"!

 

[gray52]

I'm assuming you have already stayed at BLT? If not, please take a good hard look at the entire place. As another poster has said, the building is less than two years old and the quality of the furnishings, cabinetry, etc. is far less than I would expect. We stayed there January, 2010 when the building was open less than six months and the 2 bdrm lockoff we were assigned was an absolute mess considering the accommodations were in use less than six months. Plus, I did not get a warm "welcome home" feeling at all when entering the lobby of BLT as I do at the other DVC resorts. The lobby area feels cold and unwelcoming to say the least.....very contemporary I will give you that.......but, also very cold. Needless to say, we will NOT ever stay at BLT again. We have been DVC members for over 10 years and have stayed at all the DVC resorts onsite at WDW....some multiple times.....since we visit usually twice a year, sometimes three times. We definitely favor some over others, but, I will continue to stay at any of them again in the future......except BLT.......not only because of poor quality furnishings in the units, but, the general feel of the place.

Don't want to turn it into a BLT bashing thread... but, I'll second that... In my OPINION, BLT direct (or anything direct) is just not a good buy with resale prices continuing to drop. BLT for $66/point... and PASSING ROFR???? That's crazy!!!
We stayed at BLT in January 2010... and i have to admit, our room was less than spectacular. The "resort" itself felt like the Holiday Inn, not a DVC. Our room included stains in the carpet, drawers that wouldn't close, a gap in the bathroom door and a chunk taken out of the table (and that was just a few months after it OPENED!). My DW and I had some raised eyebrows at what we considered poor choice of materials/construction (we've built 2 new homes and have done extensive remodels on 3). We've now stayed at BLT, OKW & BCV. BLT would rank below either resort, for sure.

 

[McCrae]

Following the last two comments it's worth giving a bit of balance...

For sure BLT is not to everyone's taste.....but by all accounts it probably is the most popular DVC resort ever in terms of sales, price paid per point and how quickly the resort is selling out.

BLT is a great resort which would not be as successful if it wasn't popular.

Sure it's not perfect but none of the resort are.....their is a recent thread complaining about furniture at OKW.

I wouldn't want to stay at many of the DVC properties, not my taste....

BLT, VGC, AK- Kidani are resorts I like to visit.

We have stayed at BLT twice and have not had any major problems regarding the quality of the rooms we stayed in.