If you could do one thing differently when purchasing DVC what would it be?

[zavandor]

When I bought, BWV was selling for $55-60 a point. I should have bought a few millions points to resell later! If only I had a crystal ball.
The truth is that I'm very happy that I bough SSR, instead. The contracts are now worth 50% more than I paid for them and I've been able to stay at many different resorts, exactly my plan (including some booking categories difficult to get like AKV value and BWV value). However I did a lot of research about DVC before buying and I bought the resort that better fit my needs and my situation (being able to travel during low demand periods is key). I think the path to no regrets with DVC passes throught a lot of research.

 

[Perelandra]

I'm not sure I'd have done things much differently at the times I bought and sold. It's worked out pretty well for us.

I would suggest that buying 3 times 100 raises costs far more than just the extra closing. The best balance in this situation for resale was likely 2 contracts in the 150-170 point range, maybe one SSR and one other. On that number doing the 3 contracts but all at SSR would have raised your costs around another $4-5K total. Doing them at different resorts would have given you options at a higher cost but may not have been enough to work things well. Constantly being in borrowing/banking mode has risk and potential costs that are often worse than dealing with the 7 month window. The additional costs for other resorts would have been additive, whether it'd have been worth it depends on personal factors including how/when one would ultimately use the points.

That's a good point and total cost does mean a great deal to me as well. What I actually did was found two listings for SSR for 150 pts each and called the broker and asked if, since they were from the same seller, could I buy them both under the same closing, and I was allowed to albeit with the closing costs calculated at 300 pts. Then once the deed was recorded I called Disney direct and added 25 points. So, I have 325 pts at SSR, but it's 150+150+25, so I think I did what you were suggesting, and probably went the most economical route. Now, ideally, if I could have found the same seller with same UY but 1 available at SSR and 1 at BLT, and done the same combined closing, then that would have been my perfect scenario, but that seems an unlikely scenario.

 

[Dean]

That's a good point and total cost does mean a great deal to me as well. What I actually did was found two listings for SSR for 150 pts each and called the broker and asked if, since they were from the same seller, could I buy them both under the same closing, and I was allowed to albeit with the closing costs calculated at 300 pts. Then once the deed was recorded I called Disney direct and added 25 points. So, I have 325 pts at SSR, but it's 150+150+25, so I think I did what you were suggesting, and probably went the most economical route. Now, ideally, if I could have found the same seller with same UY but 1 available at SSR and 1 at BLT, and done the same combined closing, then that would have been my perfect scenario, but that seems an unlikely scenario.

That is the best option, on other threads I've offered the caveat that having smaller is good but often not worth the cost. Getting smaller as a set for one closing is the best choice when possible but it's often not. IMO the new standard is resale then adding on 25 retail to get the perks. I'd do this even if it didn't seem needed at the time so one has options going forward.

 

[ScubaCat]

I would have tried harder to convince DW that it's a terrible deal and would have saved the money. I've found it to be obscenely overpriced for the value of the product, even at resale. It's a mediocre product, at best, and it exhibits the same problems of anything where you pay too much up front. (no incentive for DVD to do more than the bare minimum possible)

Just my opinion though. I could feed a lot of homeless cats for $48K, and they'd appreciate it more than the execs who just used that to pad their wealth.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We have been delighted with our DVC purchases. The only thing we regret is not buying more VGF points when it was released. We only did a small add on.

 

[ldo]

bought a small contract where we wanted to stay at holidays (VWL), but didn't appreciate UY. It didn't really affect us that much. But, when we realized that we were almost always booking AKV, we sold and rebought a larger AKV contract with a UY that matched our vacation habits better. No regrets. DVc is definitely more $$ for a purchase and annual fees than other, very nice options offsite (esp resale offisite). But, for the unique experience DVC delivers, I am happy with price we paid resale/annual fees. Plus, DVC is about the only timeshare that has consistently held its value in resale, even in a recession, IMHO. My one advice would be to buy 160 points or less, for quicker resale. An exit strategy should always be in the equation for any real estate (esp. TS) purchase.

 

[mort1331]

Only regret is not buying more. We bought resale during the down swing, and when the Can$ was par. Now the contract is up 30-40% and the dollar is also up 25-30%. So we cant buy more now, but if there is a swing later we will. We purchased 2 different use years to be used at different times and it is working out just as we planned. We travel both in the fall and spring.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

We have an April AKV use year and an August SSR contract and it confuses the heck out of me. If I could do it all again I would have bought the same use year for all contracts.

I also now realize that owning both SSR and AKV is kind of useless. I wish all my points were SSR or BWV to make keeping track of points easier, but I'm still very happy with my purchases overall.

 

[suebeelin]

I regret buying BWV instead of BCV-- but we are still happy with BWV, so no real regrets. We are VERY glad we passed on a AKV contract, and bought BWV instead.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I would have purchased sooner.

Us, too.

 

[lovin'fl]

I regret buying BWV instead of BCV-- but we are still happy with BWV, so no real regrets. We are VERY glad we passed on a AKV contract, and bought BWV instead.

We bought BWV direct and could have gone with BCV but thought we'd save points with standard view at BWV. Though we liked BCV as a resort a little better than BWV. Then we discovered that getting standard view, especially for F&W when we go, is very tough as owners even (booking at 11 months out). So for a while we regretted not going with BCV. But they recently started renovations and took out the jetted tubs and ceiling fans in the 1/2BR villas. So now I am glad for BWV. Though they likely will take those things out of BWV down the line too. But for now, I am happy to have BWV instead of BCV.

 

[mab2012]

Only regret is not buying more. We bought resale during the down swing, and when the Can$ was par. Now the contract is up 30-40% and the dollar is also up 25-30%. So we cant buy more now, but if there is a swing later we will. We purchased 2 different use years to be used at different times and it is working out just as we planned. We travel both in the fall and spring.

You got it right then. My only real regret so far is NOT buying when I first considered it in 2011. CAD was at or even above par, and SSR contracts were listed in the $50-60 range. Instead I took several years to think about it before I arrived at a model that made sense for my family. By then the CAD was around .78, and SSR contracts were in the $80-90 range (I got mine at $84pp). So while my purchase was well researched and carefully thought out, it cost fully twice as much as it might have. Ouch.

The standard advice to research, take some trips, and research some more is usually good advice, but I could have done with a bit less.

The only other thing I got a bit wrong, even after all that research, was use year. We have an October use year, which is fine for our usual travel patterns, but I only realized after buying that it's a less common use year. So if we ever decide to add on, our options for that same use year might be limited. It's not a big thing, but if I could do it over I might make a point of choosing a December contract instead.

 

[squirrel4569]

Definitely wish we would've bought in sooner. A year or two earlier would've been great considering the trips we took then before we were members.

Other than that I'm happy with what we bought. We bought AKV for less than half what they were selling direct for ($78/pt vs $160/pt) and have loved staying there. We're adding on now with a BLT contract specifically because we enjoyed going at NYE so much and wanted the location for that time of year.

 

[Minniesgal]

Instead of buying 220 points at AKV I would buy at BLT and AKV.

I would also have bought sooner

 

[bwvBound]

If you could do one thing differently when purchasing DVC what would it be?

We waited 6 years from "first look" to "first purchase." If I could go back and do anything differently, I'd add another 4 years to our wait time! This would have allowed us to purchase Grand Cal as our home resort. But who knew!?!

 

[Novakm]

Way back in '94 I was at WDW, and they tried to sell me on the original DVC. They used the ability to use points for booking the Poly as an incentive. I did the math of booking CRO vs using DVC points, and it did not make sense, so we passed. No one told me that using DVC points for Poly was a terrible value. I did not understand that I'd need less than 1/2 as many points to stay at what is now OKW. Had I known, I probably would have bought then.

Fast forward to 2013.

I was planning to bring all 6 of my grandkids to WDW, with thier parents. My plan was 3 separate trips in a 2br spread across 3 years. The plan was to sell after the 3 trips. Buying resale, even after assuming 20% depreciation and selling costs it would be less than 3 cash booking at AA.

I bought the points, took the trips, had a great time.

Then we took another trip.

Have 2more booked.

So what was the mistake? I should have bought more points. Lots more. I have a serious case of addonitis, but prices now are significantly higher than they were in 2013.

 

[chainkid]

I should have bought all my points at BWV in the beginning and not bought at HH and AKV . I found air fare to be hard from my location to HH so never stayed there and ended up selling. I stayed at AKV after buying and found it was too dark and uninviting for me. Luckily I only bought 28 points there as I thought it would be fun to stay there before my BWV vacation would begin. I wish I had found resale sooner. Best advice I can give is buy where you want to stay 80% of the time. I also bought contracts 5 in all with same use year which makes everything much easier. Glad I bought contracts in the 100-175pt range to make selling easier. My first contract was the biggest at 252pts so I know that will be hard to unload if I should ever need to. If I knew then what I know now , I would pat myself on the back for having the good sense to get in on the ground floor as prices have gone thru the roof since I bought in 1999. I have never regretted my decision. I'm a planner and love my home resort so having the 11 month window is a real plus. I have been able to stay at every DVC except the poly so far because I pick when they are open and make that my time to go. I still pick BWV over anywhere else if my stay is longer than 3 days. If you are not a planner then DVC is not for you. It is stressful at times.

 

[JimC]

First contract was 300 point resale, should have gone with two 150 point contracts

 

[Halle]

We should have purchased as soon as we saw the sign announcing Disney's Vacation Club coming soon. We bought our first contract in 1993.

 

[stuartsong]

I would concur with lot of the same sentiment that I should have bought earlier with the resorts. I missed on the Grand Californian.