Help needed with offer price

[Javin917]

I’m sorry that one didn’t work out!

We just passed ROFR on a BCV contract. We had planned on $140/point when we started looking after going through the current average resale prices. I was checking the different broker sites every day and the perfect contract for us popped up in terms of points and use year. Since it was exactly what we were looking for and actually listed for less than we planned, we didn’t want to take a chance and just offered full price about a minute after we saw it haha! I do wonder if there would have been wiggle room if we asked but am happy with the price we got regardless!

 

[Mumof4mice]

Well I guess this contract was not meant to be for us. The sellers refused the offer and want to wait for their asking price of $141/point. I guess it is back to stalking the resale websites. Thank you everyone for all of your advice and words of wisdom.[/0)

Good job walking away! At $141, I'd pay the $44 difference and go direct. You'll find something else soon.

 

[The Jackal]

Well I guess this contract was not meant to be for us. The sellers refused the offer and want to wait for their asking price of $141/point. I guess it is back to stalking the resale websites. Thank you everyone for all of your advice and words of wisdom.

You did the right thing. They might get their asking price since BCV is a small resort. I personally think it it priced too high especially with the 2042 end date. I understand location, but still. If the resort was bigger the price would be lower. The right contract will come around soon. Just stand your ground at what you want to pay.

 

[Henwen88]

Good job walking away! At $141, I'd pay the $44 difference and go direct. You'll find something else soon.

The problem is trying to buy direct at BCV is like puling teeth. Not a consistent wait list (in fact, last I heard, no wait list at all), and will likely take longer than resale.

It took me a looooong time to wrap my mind around this. I bought there a few years ago when prices were just starting to inch over 100. All my other points were immediately post-recession era 60 dollar points, so this was a tough mental hurdle. However, I wanted BCV. I wanted a specific UY. I bit the bullet on a partially stripped 100 pointer for 102 a point. And sooooo glad I did. We use those points for FW every year, and they were worth every penny. If I were to sell (and I am not), I wouldn't take a dime under $145.

We see the ROFR board, which is a very small fraction of people (most of whom got awesome deals), so while it's a guideline, it's not 100% accurate as far as 'comps.' If you have a reliable broker that you trust, you should ask them what the average selling price has been recently.
If you are looking for a bargain (and I def agree that they're still out there - just gotta look!), then you may have to open the list of resorts (SSR, AKV, etc) vs. BCV only which is very small and still in high demand. Good luck!

 

[Princess Michele]

We have *just* gone through the process of purchasing BCV and signed a contract on 8/7. BCV contracts are hot and go very quickly. The point contract you are looking for is very popular and there is a lot of competition. We found that many contracts never hit the websites, or are sold within minutes/hours of hitting the website. Fidelity has the most competitively priced contracts and most go quickly at full asking. It will be very difficult to purchase a contract under $130 - we made five offers (4 full price) before we had an offer accepted. We purchased a contract that was larger than our original plan as the over 200 point contracts don't sell quite as quickly but it met our use year needs and that particular use year (august) is hard to find for BCV. It sounds like BCV is what you really want to own and I think you should find a contract that fits your needs and make a strong offer. In the scheme of the larger purchase price a few extra dollars per point doesn't make a big difference in the bottom line.

?

In your experience with contracts not hitting the websites did you contact brokers on a periodic basis to see if they had any contracts that fit your requests or ask them to notifiy you if they received something? Thank you.

The problem is trying to buy direct at BCV is like puling teeth. Not a consistent wait list (in fact, last I heard, no wait list at all), and will likely take longer than resale.

It took me a looooong time to wrap my mind around this. I bought there a few years ago when prices were just starting to inch over 100. All my other points were immediately post-recession era 60 dollar points, so this was a tough mental hurdle. However, I wanted BCV. I wanted a specific UY. I bit the bullet on a partially stripped 100 pointer for 102 a point. And sooooo glad I did. We use those points for FW every year, and they were worth every penny. If I were to sell (and I am not), I wouldn't take a dime under $145.

We see the ROFR board, which is a very small fraction of people (most of whom got awesome deals), so while it's a guideline, it's not 100% accurate as far as 'comps.' If you have a reliable broker that you trust, you should ask them what the average selling price has been recently.
If you are looking for a bargain (and I def agree that they're still out there - just gotta look!), then you may have to open the list of resorts (SSR, AKV, etc) vs. BCV only which is very small and still in high demand. Good luck!

I do not have a broker as we are just beginning to look and have been only looking at what has been posted on websites. Would you suggest calling the various resellers that have been listed on this forum and asking them about the average selling price for BCV recently? I am not so much looking for a bargain but a contract at BCV that is in price range which we can afford. If one does not turn up at some point we will need to either reevaluate purchasing or look into other resorts. Thank you.

 

[The Jackal]

?

In your experience with contracts not hitting the websites did you contact brokers on a periodic basis to see if they had any contracts that fit your requests or ask them to notifiy you if they received something? Thank you.



I do not have a broker as we are just beginning to look and have been only looking at what has been posted on websites. Would you suggest calling the various resellers that have been listed on this forum and asking them about the average selling price for BCV recently? I am not so much looking for a bargain but a contract at BCV that is in price range which we can afford. If one does not turn up at some point we will need to either reevaluate purchasing or look into other resorts. Thank you.

Some people manage to get some great deals, some sellers will hold out and eventually will get what they are asking. Right now there is is a SSR contract listed for 30 points and they want $155 a point with no 2018 points and cannot close for a while. That price is $4 more per point than what you can buy direct from Disney, the closing costs with Disney would be around $100. Closing costs on resale would be much higher, generally at least $300-400. Buying this makes no sense for someone who already is an owner of DVC. But if you don’t own DVC and want a small contract to go once every three years with banking and borrowing points it could be worth it, because you cannot buy a contract from DVC directly of less than 75 points if you do not already own DVC. But BCV is the worst return on investment of all DVC resorts based on cost to buy, yearly dues and length of contract. The right contract for you will pop up, it could be a week, month or a year. Take your time and get the right one for you.

 

[Henwen88]

?

In your experience with contracts not hitting the websites did you contact brokers on a periodic basis to see if they had any contracts that fit your requests or ask them to notifiy you if they received something? Thank you.



I do not have a broker as we are just beginning to look and have been only looking at what has been posted on websites. Would you suggest calling the various resellers that have been listed on this forum and asking them about the average selling price for BCV recently? I am not so much looking for a bargain but a contract at BCV that is in price range which we can afford. If one does not turn up at some point we will need to either reevaluate purchasing or look into other resorts. Thank you.

There are 4 or 5 major reputable brokers (honestly, I'm not sure which ones I can post on these boards, so I won't post any) so look for the ones that have been in business the longest and have good BBB ratings. Call the agents and get on their mailing lists. Let them know exactly what you're looking for. I agree, the good ones tend to go really fast.

And, yes, while BCV is def not the best DVC 'investment' out there - look at it this way: if you're gonna shell out the money to stay there anyway on the cash side (which we have in past and it was over 6k), I'd rather spend a little more on a contract and have points until 2042.

 

[Kaufeegurl]

"Buy where you want to stay" is the *best* advice I have ever received on these boards. We own at SSR and have never stayed there - it is getting much harder to book other resorts at the 7 month mark, hence the reason we pursued a contract at BCV.

 

[Madame]

We closed in May on 270 BCV points Aug UY. We didn’t get the steal of the century at $132/pt, but it had full 2018 points on.

I thought we overpaid given the 2042 expiry, but I wanted BCV. Honestly though, I wouldn’t pay in the $140s for a stripped BCV. If we were looking now & the average price was that high, I’d probably look more closely at BWV or BLT.

 

[Frederic Civish]

Another thing to keep in mind is this: most DVC Resale listings specify that the buyer will pay maintenance fees for points for the current year and that the buyer will pay closing costs.

You can specify in your offer that you want the seller to pay closing costs and the seller to pay maintenance fees for the current year. Most sellers that I have dealt with seem to agree with one or the other. Usually closing costs. But if they cover closing costs or maintenance fees/membership dues, then you can essentially deduct the money for those from the price per point that you are paying. So I generally ask for a slightly lower price, plus I asked for them to pay the maintenance fees and the closing cost. Most sellers seem to feel that, hey, they are getting a chunk of money, so it won’t hurt for them to pay for one of those. In my experience I have usually been able to get them to lower the price slightly AND pay for one or the other of those items. In one case I got the seller to agree to all three, but then Disney took the contract on ROFR because it was so good.

I also agree that it is a very reasonable thing to look at the offer and make a lower counter offer on the price. Again, people sell for various reasons, and sometimes they just decide to “cut their losses” and get out even if it means accepting a lower price which is on the table rather than waiting for a higher offer later. Don’t feel bad or embarrassed to try this.

I knew of one person who was in no hurry to purchase any contracts, and he bought five different contracts over a period of a year or two, and he got them all at exceptional prices. He did this because he was not in a hurry, he was willing to wait, and he made offers on many many contracts. Most of the offers were rejected, and multiple times when his offers were accepted, they were taken on ROFR, but once in a while he was able to get an especially good one. And that made it worthwhile. There is a certain element of luck, but it will never roll your way unless you play the game.

 

[Dean]

Another thing to keep in mind is this: most DVC Resale listings specify that the buyer will pay maintenance fees for points for the current year and that the buyer will pay closing costs.

You can specify in your offer that you want the seller to pay closing costs and the seller to pay maintenance fees for the current year. Most sellers that I have dealt with seem to agree with one or the other. Usually closing costs. But if they cover closing costs or maintenance fees/membership dues, then you can essentially deduct the money for those from the price per point that you are paying. So I generally ask for a slightly lower price, plus I asked for them to pay the maintenance fees and the closing cost. Most sellers seem to feel that, hey, they are getting a chunk of money, so it won’t hurt for them to pay for one of those. In my experience I have usually been able to get them to lower the price slightly AND pay for one or the other of those items. In one case I got the seller to agree to all three, but then Disney took the contract on ROFR because it was so good.

I also agree that it is a very reasonable thing to look at the offer and make a lower counter offer on the price. Again, people sell for various reasons, and sometimes they just decide to “cut their losses” and get out even if it means accepting a lower price which is on the table rather than waiting for a higher offer later. Don’t feel bad or embarrassed to try this.

I knew of one person who was in no hurry to purchase any contracts, and he bought five different contracts over a period of a year or two, and he got them all at exceptional prices. He did this because he was not in a hurry, he was willing to wait, and he made offers on many many contracts. Most of the offers were rejected, and multiple times when his offers were accepted, they were taken on ROFR, but once in a while he was able to get an especially good one. And that made it worthwhile. There is a certain element of luck, but it will never roll your way unless you play the game.

And this type of stance by the resale company ensures that almost everyone will be overpaying on dues. But that's the lay of the land so one just has to consider that additional cost in the evaluation along with higher closing. The exception is where one is getting a bunch of banked points and not paying additional fees on those or if one is able to negotiate the appropriate dues on the contract.

 

[kboo]

In your experience with contracts not hitting the websites did you contact brokers on a periodic basis to see if they had any contracts that fit your requests or ask them to notifiy you if they received something? Thank you.

Call the agents and get on their mailing lists.

We now have 3 resale purchases under our belts (!!) Yes - getting on the mailing lists, and establishing relationships is the way to go. Our very first contract came in an email and never hit the broker's website, I called to speak to a real person to make our offer, and we were on our way. When we started looking for contract #2 (different resort), I called that agent at that broker, as well as others. It didn't pan out, but I got a lot of info from the people I spoke to about when they updated their websites, how much advance notice the email would give, etc. Some of that info has changed, but some brokers actually have apps that will notify you if any contract gets listed that meets your resort/UY requirements.

Our 3rd resale contract came as a direct result of our broker relationship with our first broker: I called to ask make an offer on a contract that was listed in that day's email, and I was already too late - they'd had a full price offer come in before me. I said thanks, but let me know if anything like that one comes up because we were ready to make a cash offer, etc etc. (They knew from our first purchase that we are very fast turning everything around.) Lo and behold, the broker called me back a few weeks later - that first buyer had backed out, so before they changed the online listing to available (from "sale pending"), was I interested? Heck yeah, and on the broker's website it stayed "sale pending" throughout.

 

[Renee H]

Points left on the contract or being stripped make all the difference in the world. I think you made the right choice