There are many people who have resales as their only purchases. Others, including me, have a combination of purchases from Disney and resale. There are reputable brokers on-line who appear to specialize in
DVC resales. Two I can think of are The Timeshare Store, dvc-resales.com, which sponsors this site, and A Timeshare, atimeshare.com.
Buying a resale is a way to "add-on" and essentially the only way to do so if you want a sold out resort -- Disney does every now and then sell some points at sold out resorts that it has gotten back through its right of first refusal on resales or through loan defaults and foreclosures but there is usually a waiting list for those and they can be few and far between.
Major differences or similiarities between purchasing through Disney and resale are :
1. Disney sells at one price, non-negotiable. Resale prices are negotiable.
2. Disney's quoted price includes all closing costs. In a resale the buyer pays closing costs in addition to the purchase price unless negotiated otherwise; closing costs for any sale are fairly fixed and range from $400 to $500 for the sale regardless of how many points you buy. Closing costs thus become a key issue for a low point resale. For example a 50 point resale for $70 a point has an actual price of $80 a point if you also have to pay $500 in closing costs (that comes out to $10 a point for 50 points).
3. Disney provides financing through its own financing company. If you need financing for a resale you need to find it. One way is a home equity loan on your existing home which would give you a rate less than Disney's. However, if you need to go through a financing company that finances timeshares, you will find rates 2% to 3% points higher than Disney offers as rates for such sales are always much higher than regular home sales. Thus, if you need to finance a resale at higher rates than Disney offers then you need to do some math to see if your lower price per point deal in resale is really better than Disney's price at a lower loan rate.
4. Low point contracts -- what most think of as an add-on -- are usually very difficult to find in the reslae market. Most resales are for 150 points or more primarily because most are selling all that they purchased before; also, brokers very often charge a fixed or minimum commission for a timeshare resales in the $1,000 or higher range which makes selling 50 point or lower contracts problematic for the seller as broker commissions can eat up a very large percentage of the sale price. Also, Disney always sells you an add-on in the same use year you have. With a resale you take whatever use year the seller has and keep that one -- note having two use years is not a disadvantage, it just requires a little more effort keeping track of banking dates and points you use for a trip.
5. Through reputable brokers the resale process is fairly painless and similar to a Disney sale in time it takes from agreement to buy to closing. One difference in a resale is that you cannot make ressies with the points until after you close whereas Disney allows you to make ressies as soon as you have sent in paperwork. Also, you can't get the seller to make those ressies for you before closure because Disney voids all reservations previously made upon closing. Usually the resale buyer does not get all the documentation that Disney provides for a sale although the buyer should consider asking the seller to provide all the documentation, such as the offering statements. After the resale and once registered with Disney (shortly after closing, Disney will send out the Member Guidebook but does not send the offering statements.
6. Another factor in resales, also negotiable, is how you pro rate dues at time of closing. Disney for its sales starts the clock running from date of sale. With a resale, you may be asked to pay all the dues already paid for the year particularly if all points are still availalbe for the year. This is one area you just have to make sure you check on and negotiate as you don't want to be paying an entire year's dues at time of closing if the contract has no current points.
7. Another difference as noted above is that you have to check carefully what you are really buying in available point use. A lot of sellers go on the market after they have already used up the current year's points and in some cases borrowed and used all of the next use year's points; net effect, that contract is less desirable than one with current points (or current and banked points) as you may not be able to even use points for a year or more. Such differences in availabe points are sometimes reflected in offering prices being advertised for the resales, but in any event it can have an impact on whether to buy and the price that should actually be paid.
8. With all resales, Disney has a right of first refusal, meaning it can take the sale away from the buyer by matching the agreed to terms of sale between the resale buyer and seller with Disney purchasing from the seller. This does not happen often and seems to be done when Disney believes the purchase price is well below what it considers a desirable level in the resale market; neveretheless once you agree to buy a resale, the contract is sent to Disney and you wait to hear (usually a matter of a week or two) whether Disney has decided to waive its right to purchase.
