Some of the major differences between buying from Disney and purchasing a resale contract are:
Buying from Disney:
- You become a member within hours of paying your deposit and can begin making reservations
- The price/point you are quoted is the final price (no closing costs)
- You can buy any number of points you want greater than or equal to 150 points
- You receive all current Use Year points with your purchase which will be either 2005 points or 2006 points depending on the Use Year you purchase
- Your first year's dues are pro-rated from the date you pay your deposit
- You can purchase any resort but there may be quite a wait to buy in to some of the smaller resorts
Buying Resale:
- The entire process from sending in your deposit to making it into Disney's system takes about 8 weeks, sometimes longer
- The price/point is less than buying from Disney, unless you are buying BCV in which case it might be higher (because Disney has a long waiting list for BCV points)
- You must pass Disney's ROFR so that limits how good a deal you can afford to negotiate with the seller -- if the deal is too good, Disney will take the contract and you'll have to start over
- Closing costs are usually paid by the buyer and run about $4/point
- Buyers usually end up reimbursing the seller for the current year's dues
- The 150-point minimum does not apply when purchasing a resale contract. You can become a member with as few as 25 points, though these contracts are hard to find and Disney often takes them via ROFR
- Contracts vary from being totally "stripped" of points to being fully "loaded" (all of last year's points banked, all current year points, and all of next Use Year's points available) and everything in between. Carefully review the details to see exactly how many points you will get with your resale contract.
- All resorts are available via resale but you may have to wait a bit to find a contract of the right size, preferred Use Year, enough points currently available to justify the asking price, etc.
I joined by buying a BWV resale through The Timeshare Store. I waited a few weeks for the right contract to come along. The whole process took about 8 weeks. I got a good contract and everything went very smoothly.
Good luck!