New DVC Member - Perspective of a Direct Buyer

[4luv2cdisney]

Why should I assume I'm going to sell my contract in 10 years? Especially since it is a resale contract that still gives me direct benefits. You are right that if I sell it today or in 10 years, I significantly lower the 'cost', but as far as I am concerned, I am not planning on ever selling it, so my costing is exactly right. I also have never rented my points out, and again have no plans to.

To each his own, I suppose someone could buy a contract and do nothing but rent points out and "make" money, but to me that's not the point of buying into DVC. (If that is the point, then that person should DEFINITELY buy resale.)

I think that is why there will be a big difference in what kind of buyers are buying 2042's or at least how much thought they give to it. If I'm 30 (I wish) I'm probably not going to even consider it unless it's super cheap. If I'm 50 (not there yet), I probably don't give a crap about the end date. If I want to be at BWV/BCV for Food and Wine, that's what I'm gonna do.

So, I'm somewhere in between - in age and thinking. I think the longer contract life is indisputably the better "bargain" on paper (especially if we are comparing to AKV - where my kids happen to refuse to stay), but I bought my BWV contract with a specific purpose in mind and I was only buying a small number of points so it really doesn't bother me if I'm paying even $5/pt more for my stay. On 60 points that's $300. I assure you I waste $300/year on much less important stuff.

ETA - and I really think the only time we're ever going to know how much our choices really cost or saved us and how we feel about that, is in the end. Whether that's selliing (will we sell stripped or loaded? what will the market be like when we need or want to sell?) or keeping til the end (did we use it to the fullest? were we happy with our purchase and our home resort? were there years we rented our points? where there years we lost points for some unfortunate reason?. Either way (how did dues increase compared to other resorts we could have bought?) (where did I really use my points to stay?)

Will we care?

FWIW, I did a spreadsheet on what it will cost me for my next trip using current point charts and current dues. I compared 8 resorts and did the calculations with direct buy and resale buy (best guess) and I did just do the simple divide purchase price by years remaining. It really wasn't a shocking difference between resorts. You know, Poly and VGF were still more $ but not like if you were paying cash rack rate more. It was easier for me to put it in perspective of how much these accommodations were worth to me.

 

[skier_pete]

I just wanted to point out that the cost would be different if you didn't keep the contract. I think that most people who buy DVC dont buy with the intention of ever selling but as everyone knows life can and will happen and some end up selling anyway and maybe buying again years later.

What you say is completely true. When I bought in I never really thought about such a thing - just that my money is "sunk", but in reality your contract retains some value, and unlike most vacation timeshares appears to increase even as the "value" decreases. (Remember, Disney took away a bunch of benefits last year, and prices still keep going up.) But again, the value WILL eventually go to zero. In 2041 yours and mine BWV contract will be worth at most about $10 a point.

FWIW, I did a spreadsheet on what it will cost me for my next trip using current point charts and current dues. I compared 8 resorts and did the calculations with direct buy and resale buy (best guess) and I did just do the simple divide purchase price by years remaining. It really wasn't a shocking difference between resorts. You know, Poly and VGF were still more $ but not like if you were paying cash rack rate more. It was easier for me to put it in perspective of how much these accommodations were worth to me.

There's SO many different variables to consider when looking a "value" with what resort you prefer, and what the # of points required being two of them. In the end as long as you arrive at a point where you are satisfied with YOUR situation, then that is what matters. Informed decisions always beat uninformed decisions.

 

[glamdring269]

I also think on small contracts it really doesn't matter. Or shouldn't matter. Perfect example above where you can quibble over $5-$10/pt on a 50 point contract. In 10 years will you care that you paid $250-$500 more? Would you even care 1 year from now?

And for the record I'm only in the market for small point contracts and I find myself facing this internal struggle all the time. With the amount of time spent hunting some of this down I sometimes feel like I'll end up spending $250-$500 of my time on finding the perfectly priced contract.

 

[skier_pete]

I also think on small contracts it really doesn't matter. Or shouldn't matter. Perfect example above where you can quibble over $5-$10/pt on a 50 point contract. In 10 years will you care that you paid $250-$500 more? Would you even care 1 year from now?

And for the record I'm only in the market for small point contracts and I find myself facing this internal struggle all the time. With the amount of time spent hunting some of this down I sometimes feel like I'll end up spending $250-$500 of my time on finding the perfectly priced contract.

I definitely agree with this. I bought our BWV contract (75 point) at $105 back in May. I debated about trying to offer lower since I thought it was about $2-5 high, but these contracts were going so quickly, I decided to just offer the $105. Saving $2 a point would've been nice, but it's only $150 out of $8000 and hardly worth putting up a fight. I think haggling on a contract really depends on size. Anything over 150 points I would never offer the asking price unless I thought it was a great deal.