Where should I start?

[mariepapa]

My husband and I are interested in DVC. We did not get to go the DVC open house on our trip but are waiting on the DVD that Disney sends out. Other than the Disney DVC website (which is honestly not in depth enough), where are some websites that will help me sort through all of this? Also, this board is great but I may have to ask a lot of questions. I am still trying to understand the points, when I could use them and whether to buy from a resale agent.

Thank you so much!
Marie

 

[mgroshans]

www.dvcnews.com has a lot of helpful information. Good luck

 

[beccasmom]

Here are some helpful sites ---

dvcnews.com
http://www.****************/
http://www.mousesavers.com/dvc.html#dvc

 

[chalee94]

here is a comparison of resales vs. direct, as stolen from DVCMike:

Initial Purchase from DVC

• You can get the exact number of points that you want (although you must buy a minimum of 160)
• Faster than resale (you will be in the system and have your points and be able to make reservations much faster than resale)
• No worries about the purchase if Disney executes ROFR, since that only applies to resale purchases
• More expensive cost per point than the resale market
• You can finance through DVC, and Disney doesn’t report the loan to credit reporting agencies
• You can pay with a Rewards credit card and get points/cash back
• The full set of points you buy will be available immediately, versus a resale contract which may be “stripped” of points.
• If you don’t want the resorts they are currently selling (SSR/AKV/BLT/GCV), you may have to do some firm talking to a guide to convince them you really want an older resort.

Initial Purchase via Resale

• You may not get the exact number of points you want
• You can purchase fewer than 160 points for your initial buy-in to DVC (Disney won’t let you buy fewer than 160 points - except for a recent deal at AKV).
• It will take much longer to get into the DVC system and have your points (resales typically take 6-8 weeks)
• Disney may exercise ROFR and you may lose the resale and have to start all over (When buying resale, one of the potential pitfalls to try to avoid is making an offer that will cause Disney to exercise it’s Right of First Refusal)
• Resale is typically less expensive than buying from DVC
• You can’t finance through DVC, although most resale brokers will recommend a finance company
• A resale contract may be “stripped” of points where the user has used many of the current year’s points, and may have borrowed some or all of next year’s points. Just be aware of “stripped” contracts on the resale market.
• Easier to pickup large point packages at any of the older DVC resorts.

 

[mariepapa]

Thank you very much! Now to go and read...

 

[chalee94]

here is another good basic FAQ on the DVC.

here is some good information provided by this site and posters here:

DVC point charts are linked above.

Choosing Your Home Resort - What to Consider?

A complete history of annual dues at the different DVC resorts.

Understanding Use Year

 

[DebbieB]

The DVD is not going to give you much info on the mechanics either.

 

[Jason@dvcstore]

My husband and I are interested in DVC. We did not get to go the DVC open house on our trip but are waiting on the DVD that Disney sends out. Other than the Disney DVC website (which is honestly not in depth enough), where are some websites that will help me sort through all of this? Also, this board is great but I may have to ask a lot of questions. I am still trying to understand the points, when I could use them and whether to buy from a resale agent.

Thank you so much!
Marie

Feel free to request a brochure from The Timeshare Store, Inc.®. If you send your first and last name along with an email we can get it over to you. If you want one mailed as well please provide your address. It will explain the process of buying resale. We can also add you to our distribution list so when new listings become available you will be notified. We receive about 150 new listings every month and most people don't want to sort through all 200 active listings daily to figure out which are new.

The e-mail you want to send the request to is sales@dvcstore.com.

Good luck in all your research.

Jason

 

[whitfamily]

Feel free to ask away on here as well. We all seem to love to talk about DVC.

 

[RysMomma]

I haven't bought yet, but DH and I are considering it more seriously than ever. We can't afford it right now, but in the near future, we are hoping to do it. The people on here are awesome! They have answered EVERY single question I have had and they all have been nothing but nice and helpful! I can't wait to buy because these guys have been so helpful!

 

[sam_001]

you can find the resorts on you tube you.

 

[SnowWhite12]

here is a comparison of resales vs. direct, as stolen from DVCMike:

"Initial Purchase from DVC
You can pay with a Rewards credit card and get points/cash back"


Can you charge the whole DVC purchase to your credit card? Or only a small amount?

 

[pnyltwk]

I haven't bought yet, but DH and I are considering it more seriously than ever. We can't afford it right now, but in the near future, we are hoping to do it.

We bought in to Saratoga in 04. We started looking at DVC about 5 years earlier. I kept coming up with reasons to not buy yet. Now that we have been in DVC for a few years I really regret waiting. Of course the price keeps going up year after year. That is one negative aspect of waiting. I would say that DVC has changed the way we vacation. We are always looking forward and are planning for our next vacation. Sometimes two at a time. I know that the majority of the vacation is paid for in advance. Having a full kitchen and laundry also allows us to save hundreds of dollars on each trip. Wish I had done this sooner. But I am making up for lost time one trip at a time. We are a family of four and have 225 points at SSR. That seems to be just about the right number of points for a two bedroom for Sun-Thursday trips somewhere most anytime of the year.

 

[mariepapa]

Thank you so much, I have been reading what you have given me and requested some information from the TSS. Now to go and research what is right for us. That is the really hard part!

 

[toniosmom]

"Initial Purchase from DVC
You can pay with a Rewards credit card and get points/cash back"


Can you charge the whole DVC purchase to your credit card? Or only a small amount?

If you are buying direct from Disney, you can charge it. I believe the first $5,000 is interest free for 6 months on a Disney Rewards Visa. If buying a resale, I've read posts where people were told that a credit card is not acceptable.

 

[bnk1120]

I read as much as I could right here on the DIsboards to decide if DVC was right for us. I am happy to say that we purchased at VWL this summer through a resale. I felt like I really knew what I was getting into and had a good understanding of the whole DVC thing by doing a lot of reading. Good luck and take your time!

 

[DenLo]

Read these boards! Our only regret is that we did not read these boards before buying, it would have saved us money! Although in the end we will still recover our initial purchase in just 5 one week trips.

 

[SamSam]

If you are buying direct from Disney, you can charge it. I believe the first $5,000 is interest free for 6 months on a Disney Rewards Visa. If buying a resale, I've read posts where people were told that a credit card is not acceptable.

You are correct,you can use a credit card for purchases directly from Disney; and no, you cannot use a credit card for resale.

 

[circhead]

You need to be aware of the expiration date of the contract if you buy resale.
The older resorts like BW, BC, VWL, OKW expire in 2042. SSR and AKL expire in 2057 - BLT 2060 - not sure about AKL - Kidani since it's new. Do a cost per year comparison based on the number of points you are buying. Even if you buy an older resort through Disney - the expiration of the contract is not different from the other contracts on the resort. (I wonder if they'll change this - because the difference in pricing is not enough to purchase at Disney prices for an older resort with less time.)

Some OKW contracts will expire in 2057 if the owners took advantage of the extension option DVC offered to OKW members only a year or two ago. (I'm hoping and praying they offer it to VWL members because I will do the extension.)

Good luck with the decision on where to buy - because it sounds to me like you've been bitten pretty badly by the DVC bug.

Oh and HOME!!