Which Comes First?

[luckofthedraw]

I am seriously looking at buying DVC points at either SSR or OKW. I anticipate visiting, with our family of four, every other year.

Can you share any tips/tricks to getting the best possible price? I've heard these ideas batted around, and the more I hear, the more confused I get. Anyone care to expound:

Disney vs. resale?

Buy small number of points (used to get discount on AP), then buy Annual Pass (getting another discount on DVC??), then buy balance of points?

Any timing tips? Better prices buying resales during certain times of the year?

When does Disney run promos? Friends & Family ends when? How often do they run promos (I was anticipating buying at the end of this year)?

What month gives you the most bang for your buck (cost vs. demand)?

So what's your very best tip for buying DVC?

Sorry in advance for all the questions!

 

[JimMIA]

I would say that if you want to buy SSR, probably Disney's $83.30 promotion will be very hard to beat. No closing costs, financing available if you need it, immediate entry into the system, no ROFR -- hard to imagine a better way to buy SSR.

If you want OKW, resale will be considerably less expensive.

Lowest price? Irrelevant question. The number you are looking for is the price which will clear ROFR. If you don't pay enough to pass ROFR, nothing else matters.

 

[RayJay]

I would say that if you want to buy SSR, probably Disney's $83.30 promotion will be very hard to beat. No closing costs, financing available if you need it, immediate entry into the system, no ROFR -- hard to imagine a better way to buy SSR.

If you want OKW, resale will be considerably less expensive.

Lowest price? Irrelevant question. The number you are looking for is the price which will clear ROFR. If you don't pay enough to pass ROFR, nothing else matters.

Unless you can find contracts with banked points.

RayJay

 

[JimMIA]

Unless you can find contracts with banked points.

RayJay

Good point; I was being simplistic. You can't really compare the concept of resale to buying direct from Disney. To make an accurate comparison, you would have to find an actual SSR resale contract you liked, evaluate the entire picture of that particular contract (including banked or stripped points), closing costs, etc, etc, and then compare that to the Disney $83.30 flat price.

For SSR, my gut feeling is you'll come out better buying direct right now, but there could be resale contracts out there which would be better for you. For OKW, I don't think there is any question that your will be better off with resale.

 

[RayJay]

Jim,

Agree on all points, OP might have hard time finding banked points on SSR resales, mostly seen on BWV's and OKW's. Rare with BCV and VWL.

In any case, having stayed at SSR, I thought it was very very nice. I'd be more apt to go thru Disney with SSR. I have bought both ways and both have advantages. Although waiting for ROFR is not a fun process.

I would resale if banked points and price was right, otherwise Disney as Jim mentions has direct financing, quick turn around etc...

Good Luck on decision
RayJay

 

[Plutofan]

If you will not need the 11 month window then the current SSR promotion of $83.30 is a good deal. I believeb that the promotion may end as early as January 15. If you are thinking about buying a re-sale contract I would suggets that you figure out the price per remaining point on the contract. SSR contracts end in January 2054 and the other resorts end in 1/2042. If you really want to get techincal than you could calculate the present value of each year of points. We just bought a Vero beach contract and I took all the re-sale contract listed, calculated the number of points remaining on the contract and divided the contract price by the total points left on the contract. I did this for each Vero resale listed. I then took the lowest price per point and found the contract that I wanted. I multiplied the price per point times the remaining points and made them an offer based on that calculation. It was very helpful to figure out that the last four numbers of the re-sale contract number represented the date the contract went up for resale. Since we knew we were not going to use the Vero points until 2007 I found a contract that was not very favorable to Disney and the buyer had it listed for six months. The contract only had 52 points coming in 2006 so if Disney did ROFR that would have to sit on it before they would be able to sell it.

The bottom line is to buy ahead of time, look for a contract that was on the resale market for a long time and that would not be favorable to Disney. By buying in advance you have time to move onto another contract if Disney buys the contract. By all means I would calculate the price per point for the remaining points on the contract to see if you are getting a good deal. I would also check with the broker to see if they think it will pass by Disney.
By finding an unfavorable contract in terms of Disney and a contract that was listed for a long time we were able to buy the contract for a lower price than the broker as seen before. Also by all means look at the annual dues history for each resort before you decide. The only reason we wanted Vero was for the cottage. If we just wanted more points we would have done an add on at SSR since it has the lowest dues and best price per point.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

When does Disney run promos? Friends & Family ends when?
Hi, I spoke with DVC yesterday and was told the friends and family ends January 31.

If you need a referral just let me know and I would be happy to help.

It would be a hard decision for me because I love OKW and SSR,Heck what am I saying I Love them all .

Misty

 

[luckofthedraw]

Thanks for all of your input. This info really helps. I can't afford to do DVC at the moment (paying cash), so SSR Friends & Family may not work out best for me right now. I'm thinking late fall or winter as a purchase, so unless Disney reruns Friends & Family, resale MAY be best. We'll have to see....

Plutofan, planning well in advance and making an offer disadvantageous to Disney's ROFR sounds good. Can you please explain what you mean by offering the lowest-price per point strategy? I guess I did not realize that you could make an offer on DVC listings, but you are saying you did? Did you buy through the Timeshare Store? Another Company?

(Luvin', that's one cute baby!)

Keepn all of your good ideas coming!

 

[Plutofan]

I went through the Timeshare store. When you make an offer you want to get the best deal but you also want to pass ROFR. It was a little easier for us since we were buying Vero which is in less demand due to the high dues. I looked at all of the contracts that were listed on the two major DVC resellers boards. Then I calculated the number of points remaining on each contract over the life of the contract. All non SSR contract expire in 1/2042 which gives them 36 years left (you do not get points in 2042). Then I divided the listed contract price by the number of points remaining on the contract. When I looked there were about 15 Vero beach contract up for sale. The price per remaining for Vero ranged from $1.62 to $2 per remaining point. I took the lowest price per point which was $1.62 and used it to calculate the price I was going to offer on a contract. The reason this method worked is becuase I knew that I would not use the points until June 2007. So I placed an offer on the worst looking contract. It was a 180 point contract with only 52 points coming due in 2006. It had been listed for at least five months. I figured that Disney would not like it since they would probably need to wait until 2007 to sell it off. Also it helps that Disney sells sold out resorts at $92 per point so not many people go to Disney to buy Vero. I also figured now was a good time to buy re-sale since most people were taking advantage of the $83.30 SSR promotion. We passed ROFR and we negotiated to split the closing costs. The broker said that we had a 50/50 chance to pass since she has heard of people buying at a price per point below $60 at Vero but has never done it. It definitly pays to plan ahead. This method applies best to Vero since there is less demand. You should still analyze contracts based upon the remaining points over the life of the contract. Talk to your broker about your chances of passing ROFR before you make an offer.