Who has only purchased direct and why?

[luv2sleep]

There's so much talk about buying resale and the consensus seems to be (from what I read here) that buying direct is a very bad idea. I bought direct for the ease and flexibility of it. Yes, it cost more. If you have only chosen to purchase your points direct from Disney, why have you made this decision over purchasing resale considering resale is so much cheaper?

 

[JimMIA]

You will have to weigh the answers you get depending on when the poster purchased, because there has not always been such a huge difference in price.

I purchased initially resale OKW, but later bought SSR direct because there was little difference and they had a legitimately good promotion. That was in 2005. Today, the landscape is vastly different.

Today, I would guess that the vast majority of people who purchase direct are the same as those before -- they don't know the resale market exists.

Of those who do know resale exists, most probably either purchased direct for the easy (but expensive) financing or because they were buying a new resort and limited (or no) resale contracts were available.

 

[nd43]

There's so much talk about buying resale and the consensus seems to be (from what I read here) that buying direct is a very bad idea. I bought direct for the ease and flexibility of it. Yes, it cost more. If you have only chosen to purchase your points direct from Disney, why have you made this decision over purchasing resale considering resale is so much cheaper?

We purchased VGF direct this month. We tried resale and lost our first contract to ROFR at BLT.

Looking back, I am happy we lost of our first contract. I think buying into a new resort, at opening price, historically has been a good time to buy direct. So I think the financial downside is less then other direct purchase scenarios while still enjoying all the other benefits of buying direct.

Things I liked about buying direct:

- The purchase process was straight forward - paying for everything was open and easy (i.e. credit card down payment, just write a check and send it in for the rest - no wires, etc.). It was quick.
- The back office was optimized to process our transaction quickly and work to make our first reservation, etc., easy. All of this occurred prior to sending in my final check vs. the numerous delays when buying resale even after paying for everything.
- I had one person to call with any question about the process (my guide)
- Whether a good use of points or not, I like having all the options available to me for our points. The idea of renting out our points to a stranger under our ownership name, for us, was not a hassle we wished to have just to use our points for other things in a more cost effective manor.
- While any "perk" can be taken away by Disney outside of the core timeshare at any time for everyone, I believe the risk of perks disappearing for resale are greater then for direct due to the business needs of Disney which will drive such decisions. That is just speculation but it is what I believe. They already created a two class system, so at this point, adding more differences is just when the business decides it is important to do so. I like being on the direct side of that possible future business decision.

So, if you can minimize the financial downside, I still prefer buying direct. However, if the price difference is too great, it can quickly erode the direct buying benefits for most people. So, while I prefer direct, I fully appreciate why others buy resale and agree the savings for many were very material.

 

[nd43]

One more thing I should have added about buying direct. I was able to tailor our contracts to my exact requirements easily. So, for my same UY, I had them break it down to several 50, 100, and 40 pt contracts. Trying to recreate that breakdown in a series of resale contracts would have been very difficult. This has given us a lot of flexibility in the future which would not have happened with our first resale BLT lump sum contract.

 

[luv2sleep]

One more thing I should have added about buying direct. I was able to tailor our contracts to my exact requirements easily. So, for my same UY, I had them break it down to several 50, 100, and 40 pt contracts. Trying to recreate that breakdown in a series of resale contracts would have been very difficult. This has given us a lot of flexibility in the future which would not have happened with our first resale BLT lump sum contract.

Did you do that breakdown over time or all at once?

 

[BestDadEver]

Well there has been a thread about who here bought direct and who bought resale , and to my surprise the overwhelming amount bought direct . Most here that preach resale own direct points too .

I bought right around the time they put restrictions in resale membership to be honest that was the point I said forget that up till that point I was looking at resale . I find value in the other options avalable even if its "not a good use of points " . I also believe there is quite a bit of savings in buying DVC . I also bought cause I wasn't interested in the ROFR process and I wanted to finance .

You don't see a lot of pro direct cause it is quite difficult to defend that around here . Look at any of my post , usually start a derailment of original topics . Most people probably just rather not deal with it . I assume this thread will be the same .

 

[luv2sleep]

Well there has been a thread about who here bought direct and who bought resale , and to my surprise the overwhelming amount bought direct . Most here that preach resale own direct points too .

I bought right around the time they put restrictions in resale membership to be honest that was the point I said forget that up till that point I was looking at resale . I find value in the other options avalable even if its "not a good use of points " . I also believe there is quite a bit of savings in buying DVC .

You don't see a lot of pro direct cause it is quite difficult to defend that around here . Look at any of my post , usually start a derailment of original topics . Most people probably just rather not deal with it . I assume this thread will be the same .

Ah ok! I've read a lot of cons when it comes to direct so I was hoping for a positive pro thread. I can see there won't be many responses then, lol! Thank you all for posting. It definitely helps and I think it will help others considering buying direct.

 

[nd43]

Did you do that breakdown over time or all at once?

I did it within my original purchase, however, I changed the split about 3 different times while doing that purchase (so, I guess over time, but ultimately, within the same initial purchase process).

Given VGF had an initial delay until June 19th for new members, I had some time to keep tweaking my split until it finally closed.

 

[luv2sleep]

I did it within my original purchase, however, I changed the split about 3 different times while doing that purchase (so, I guess over time, but ultimately, within the same initial purchase process).

Given VGF had an initial delay until June 19th for new members, I had some time to keep tweaking my split until it finally closed.

I guess I'm confused. Why would a person purchase several contracts for the same property at once?

 

[cbnsoul]

I guess I'm confused. Why would a person purchase several contracts for the sane peppery at once?

Easier to sell if you eventually want to unload a few, but not all, of your points at one property. Plus, the smaller resales are more desirbale so usually sell for more $ per point.

We bought our first contract resale (due to some bad info we received from a DVC representative about the minimum required for initial purchase). This was before there were resale restrictions. We have added on 4 50 point contracts, all direct, since (but are in the process of selling 2 in the hopes that Poly DVC will come somewhat soon.)

I like the convenience of buying direct - get your points within hours (assuming no wait list is in place), can finance, no restrictions. I know a LOT of people say to buy resale because they are cheaper (correct, although sometimes the difference is minimal) and the resale restrictions don't encompass anything you should use the points for anyway (like cruises). I figure I'm probably gonna have these points for awhile and I don't know what I might want to use them for 10 years down the road so I am better off going direct which gives me more flexibility. Obviously, a lot of people don't feel the same way and that's fine. You have to do what is most comfortable for you.

 

[Missyrose]

I guess I'm confused. Why would a person purchase several contracts for the same property at once?

In case you want to sell off any points later on. Smaller contracts are easier to sell and usually for more money than larger contracts.

Going back to the original question, I just bought my first direct contract, so I guess that semi-qualifies me to answer. I think direct purchases work well for people who 1)Want to buy at a new resort, 2)Want a small contract at a sold-out resort or 3)Need to finance the purchase.

For me, I wanted VGF and had a trip I wanted to use the points for next August, so I didn't want to wait for the resale market to materialize.

ETA: Direct purchases used to also work for people who wanted their points quickly, but that only really applies now to active-sales resorts since Disney has created lengthy waiting lists at the sold-out resorts.

 

[nd43]

I guess I'm confused. Why would a person purchase several contracts for the sane peppery at once?

I think it is one of the great benefits of buying direct that many do not take advantage of.

By breaking down the contracts into smaller contracts:

- you can "downsize" your ownership in the future when your travel needs change without selling all of your ownership
- you can "downsize" your ownership in the future if you decide to purchase another new resort in DVC in the future but will want to stay at your first resort on a rotation basis - owning multiple resorts is a common DVC result but you can end up with too many points if your first contracts were too big.
- smaller contracts, in resale, have more possible buyers as many existing DVC members like to add small add ons to their existing ownership. Many times, smaller point contracts can sell for a premium. So, in the future, your ownership will be easier to sell and perhaps get a higher price per point then trying to sell one large contract. This gets really important if you are buying over 300 pts.
- you can transfer your ownership to children or other people in pre divided chunks without having them all share the same future deed - so they end up with their own contracts in the future by themselves

For all of these benefits, small contracts tied to the same UY and deed ownership work just the same as one big contract (so there is no downside in use). There is just a lot more future options on how you manage your ownership. You will pay Disney higher closing costs for this option but the costs are small.

 

[luv2sleep]

Easier to sell if you eventually want to unload a few, but not all, of your points at one property. Plus, the smaller resales are more desirbale so usually sell for more $ per point.

We bought our first contract resale (due to some bad info we received from a DVC representative about the minimum required for initial purchase). This was before there were resale restrictions. We have added on 4 50 point contracts, all direct, since (but are in the process of selling 2 in the hopes that Poly DVC will come somewhat soon.)

I like the convenience of buying direct - get your points within hours (assuming no wait list is in place), can finance, no restrictions. I know a LOT of people say to buy resale because they are cheaper (correct, although sometimes the difference is minimal) and the resale restrictions don't encompass anything you should use the points for anyway (like cruises). I figure I'm probably gonna have these points for awhile and I don't know what I might want to use them for 10 years down the road so I am better off going direct which gives me more flexibility. Obviously, a lot of people don't feel the same way and that's fine. You have to do what is most comfortable for you.

Ah makes total sense!

 

[luv2sleep]

I think it is one of the great benefits of buying direct that many do not take advantage of.

By breaking down the contracts into smaller contracts:

- you can "downsize" your ownership in the future when your travel needs change without selling all of your ownership
- you can "downsize" your ownership in the future if you decide to purchase another new resort in DVC in the future but will want to stay at your first resort on a rotation basis - owning multiple resorts is a common DVC result but you can end up with too many points if your first contracts were too big.
- smaller contracts, in resale, have more possible buyers as many existing DVC members like to add small add ons to their existing ownership. Many times, smaller point contracts can sell for a premium. So, in the future, your ownership will be easier to sell and perhaps get a higher price per point then trying to sell one large contract. This gets really important if you are buying over 300 pts.
- you can transfer your ownership to children or other people in pre divided chunks without having them all share the same future deed - so they end up with their own contracts in the future by themselves

For all of these benefits, small contracts tied to the same UY and deed ownership work just the same as one big contract (so there is no downside in use). There is just a lot more future options on how you manage your ownership. You will pay Disney higher closing costs for this option but the costs are small.

I may have to look into this at some point. Great idea.

 

[BillPA]

We purchased direct at The Disney Vacation Club, now OKW, almost 21 years ago. There was not a resale market then, at least that I knew of. Also we added on to BCV and VWL both direct. Again I was not aware of resales at that time.

If I were to buy now I would only buy resale.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We bought four direct and one resale. The first was in 1997 and I don't think there was even much of a resale market yet. Next was resale to add more OKW points because they could not sell us any more direct. Next was new points at OKW because they added three new building. Resale cost and new cost was about the same. Next two were prior to opening - VWL and BCV - because we wanted to own there. There was no resale market for either yet.

We have since sold one direct OKW and BCV points and sold for more than we bought. We sold to reduce the amount of monthly fees we were paying. We last bought about ten years or so ago and will not buy any more.

 

[sanibel93]

Bought direct 3 times one resale. The ones I bought direct were small contracts, I could not find the UY or points I wanted on resale. Also will make it easier for my children if they have to sell part of it in the future.

 

[JWG]

Until about 2 years ago when Disney started charging closing costs, the price variance for smaller contracts beween direct and resale was minimal.

Given that small difference, it was worth the extra cost to buy direct and avoid the delays and wait.

Not paying closing costs actually reduced the priced compared to resale by $4.50 or so per point for the smaller contracts (50-75 points) we were looking at.

Now, the disparity is so big and you pay closing either way, I'm not sure that argument holds.

I did just contemplate a direct purchase of more BLT points. But, there was a 2+ month wait list and the same contract came up resale for what ends up being $3,000 less in total. Assuming we pass ROFR.

For us to buy direct again I think there would have to be a new property we really liked, Disney would need to drop closing costs and/or the resale market would have to sky rocket uncontrollably.

I was worried about giving up direct purhcase priviledges, but I did the math on a cruise on points versus renting the points. Even renting the points at $11 (which is what you get from David's Rentals), I could pay for the cruise almost twice over.

 

[bwvBound]

Our three contracts, spread across 3 purchase years, are each Direct. FWIW, we were aware of resale and had fallen out of two resale offers before buying direct. Our first SSR purchase in 2004 had a Direct price nearly equal to BWV resale pricing. We were swayed to go SSR-direct over BWV-resale based on SSR's longer contract (the only property surviving beyond 2042 at that time), lower dues and immediate processing.

 

[bumbershoot]

We bought direct.

At the time it was the only thing we could do. We were spending the same amount getting onsite Disneyland hotels as we do on the payments and dues. We could keep on doing that, or we could "own" something.

We had to finance. We didn't *want* to save up, and honestly didn't know how at that time. I mean we knew how it was done, but had proven several times that we couldn't figure out how WE could do it. Doing a monthly payment, however, could be done.


Turned out, in our specific case, that financing DVC was the absolute best thing we could have done, though we've paid for the learning. About 11 days after doing the paperwork DH was suddenly facing a layoff, and that combo finally showed us how close to the edge we were living. We cleaned our financial selves up to a great degree and got a lot smartER (still not brilliant or close to it, but we are better than before and continuing to work on it). If we hadn't JUST financed that big purchase, we wouldn't have felt the edge as keenly, and who knows what might have happened? We might have bought a house instead. (note: we bought DVC in '09)

I bet that that combo of circumstances doesn't happen every day, and I bet the people who come out OK, or even better than before, are few. So I don't tell my situation to say "copy me!" but just that sometimes it's the last lesson you need to have before finally getting it.


We just talked about add-ons the other day; I don't feel the need, even though we're out of points until 2015 (obviously we could borrow for '14 UY), because there are other things to do and other hotels to pay money to stay at. Just b/c we have DVC doesn't mean we despise all other resorts. DH, however, feels differently. We would *probably* go resale this time and buy a really solid set of points at OKW (love OKW), and then make sure we have the use of our Bay Lake direct points for things like staying at Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel for Anaheim trips (not big fans of the Grand there), because you can't use resale points at those hotels.

It would require a lot more caretaking of the points, so that's not happening any time soon.