Questions about Direct vs Resale Purchase at Either BW or BC

[Little E]

Hi Disfriends!

DH and I purchased direct at GF in the spring of 2022; we purchased two contracts with a February use year. We are thrilled with our purchases and love GF. However, like many DVC folks, we are now suffering from "addonitis".

We love being able to walk from GF directly to the MK and we love being on the monorail for quick and easy access to the other monorail resorts. We have used our GF points to stay at GF as well as at CC, AKL, Riv, and OKW, and we realize that with any purchase in the future, we want to be able to walk to parks as much as possible. So, we have narrowed our search for our next DVC purchase to either BW or BC, as we love the idea of being able to walk to both EP and HS.

We loved how easy it was to purchase GF direct from Disney; our guide was great, closing was quick, and our points were easily and quickly accessible. However, in looking at a purchase at either BW or BC, it's much less expensive to purchase a resale contract, and we recognize that a contract at either of these places is going to expire much sooner than our GF contract. So resale, kind of makes more sense.

We have been looking at resale contracts, and I'm wondering what folks who have purchased a resale contract after purchasing direct have experienced. Here are my questions:

1. Is DVC member services still able to help us with questions and bookings using the points from a purchased resale contract? I consult DVC member services for all kinds of things right now.
2. Would I be able to still see my resale contract and manage points on the DVC website?
3. How long does it take to access points purchased once an offer has been accepted? I know that a purchase has to go through ROFR, and I've looked at charts on the Disboards that indicate it can take weeks and sometimes months for folks to have access to their points. I'm wondering if this is still the case? And, why is this?
4. Does paying cash instead of financing help speed up the access-to-points process?
5. We have visited both BC and BW and taken DVC tours at both places, but we have not stayed at either resort. (I've stayed a few nights at YC, tho.) Any advice or things to consider regarding BW and BC? Both are equi distant to EP and HS, relatively speaking. We like that BW requires a few less points for bookings, but we like the fact that BC has dedicated 2 bedrooms. The pool seems better at BC, but the crowds at that pool make BW's main pool seem calmer. I think we'd be happy with either resort, but I'm curious about other things we might not be thinking of?
6. What are things we need to consider with a different use year? We have a February use year with our direct GF contracts, and I recognize that purchasing a resale contract might give us a different use year with that contract. I'm not sure if this is good or not good? Pros and cons?

Any advice anyone has about these questions or general info about a resale purchase after purchasing direct from Disney would be so very helpful. In advance, thanks so much!

 

[Sandisw]

Regardless of how you access points, MS is there to help. You won’t be eligible for help with a “welcome home” stay, but beyond that, it’s the same.

The contract will show up on your dashboard, like direct, and can be used the same way…with the exception of not being able to use the resale BWV or BCV points at RIV, VDH, CFW, and presumably all future resorts, even though you have direct points.

When you buy resale, it is a private sale, and thus the process takes longer. After ROFR, the title company prepared documents for both seller and buyer to sign. Sellers need to go to a notary which can take time. The good news is that their are more options for using an online notary which can speed it up.

Once it’s closed, it goes to MA to process and create your new contract. That takes time and MA processes them in the speed they process. That can take 2 to 3 weeks, and then MS has to load the points…

So, I’d always assume it’s a 2 month process at the minimum. Anything sooner is a bonus.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Hi Disfriends!

DH and I purchased direct at GF in the spring of 2022; we purchased two contracts with a February use year. We are thrilled with our purchases and love GF. However, like many DVC folks, we are now suffering from "addonitis".

We love being able to walk from GF directly to the MK and we love being on the monorail for quick and easy access to the other monorail resorts. We have used our GF points to stay at GF as well as at CC, AKL, Riv, and OKW, and we realize that with any purchase in the future, we want to be able to walk to parks as much as possible. So, we have narrowed our search for our next DVC purchase to either BW or BC, as we love the idea of being able to walk to both EP and HS.

We loved how easy it was to purchase GF direct from Disney; our guide was great, closing was quick, and our points were easily and quickly accessible. However, in looking at a purchase at either BW or BC, it's much less expensive to purchase a resale contract, and we recognize that a contract at either of these places is going to expire much sooner than our GF contract. So resale, kind of makes more sense.

We have been looking at resale contracts, and I'm wondering what folks who have purchased a resale contract after purchasing direct have experienced. Here are my questions:

1. Is DVC member services still able to help us with questions and bookings using the points from a purchased resale contract? I consult DVC member services for all kinds of things right now.
2. Would I be able to still see my resale contract and manage points on the DVC website?
3. How long does it take to access points purchased once an offer has been accepted? I know that a purchase has to go through ROFR, and I've looked at charts on the Disboards that indicate it can take weeks and sometimes months for folks to have access to their points. I'm wondering if this is still the case? And, why is this?
4. Does paying cash instead of financing help speed up the access-to-points process?
5. We have visited both BC and BW and taken DVC tours at both places, but we have not stayed at either resort. (I've stayed a few nights at YC, tho.) Any advice or things to consider regarding BW and BC? Both are equi distant to EP and HS, relatively speaking. We like that BW requires a few less points for bookings, but we like the fact that BC has dedicated 2 bedrooms. The pool seems better at BC, but the crowds at that pool make BW's main pool seem calmer. I think we'd be happy with either resort, but I'm curious about other things we might not be thinking of?
6. What are things we need to consider with a different use year? We have a February use year with our direct GF contracts, and I recognize that purchasing a resale contract might give us a different use year with that contract. I'm not sure if this is good or not good? Pros and cons?

Any advice anyone has about these questions or general info about a resale purchase after purchasing direct from Disney would be so very helpful. In advance, thanks so much!

I would strongly urge you to keep the same UY for a resale contract as your direct contract.

It will make your entire DVC ownership experience much easier.

 

[Little E]

Thanks @Sandisw, I appreciate the info! Thank you!

And, @AstroBlasters, can you elaborate on why keeping UY the same will make things easier? I'm so sorry...I'm just a little ignorant. I'm not understanding why matching UY is helpful? Thanks so much!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Thanks @Sandisw, I appreciate the info! Thank you!

And, @AstroBlasters, can you elaborate on why keeping UY the same will make things easier? I'm so sorry...I'm just a little ignorant. I'm not understanding why matching UY is helpful? Thanks so much!

There are a lot of you tube videos out there which may be helpful. Each UYs creates a separate membership ID which creates different rules and restrictions on combining/banking/borrowing/transferring.

It’s doable to have multiple use years, but unless you want to spend a lot of time figuring things out it is infinitely simpler to just have all your contracts in the same use year.

 

[Tatebeck]

If you already have the direct benefits from your direct contracts, then you should definitely buy resale for BWV or BCV. The resale at those resorts are usually around half the price of buying direct.

The only benefits you would get from direct are:

• using the points at future restricted resorts like RIV, CFW, VDH, etc. (usually most people won't use BWV and BCV for sleep around points like that as they are valuable points at hard to book locations, and your existing VGF points can already book at these locations anyway if you wanted to try them)
• using the points to book cruises or disney collection swaps (usually terrible values and almost nobody does that. Much better off renting the points out and paying for the cruise/international stay)

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

4. I don't think paying cash speeds up the resale process too much but a little bit. I wired funds with an all cash sale so I didn't need to notarize my documents. Also, closing costs are lower with no financing for the broker to wrangle. You save the time it would take you to get to a notary. Hard to know how much time cash saves on the broker end if any.
5. Beach is smaller than Boardwalk and therefore more difficult to book the room and view you want. Since location seems to be the priority for you, and you are not in love with BCV or it's pool, I would buy BWV resale for more room availability.

 

[Little E]

Thank you @Tatebeck and @NY Pirate Princess, your info is really helpful. Good to know that I'm on the right track in terms of buying resale for our second home resort. We already have all the direct perks, and the prices are more reasonable on the resale market for BC and BW. Thanks also for the tip about more inventory to book at BW over BC...something to definitely file away.

I'm still trying to understand the info @AstroBlasters shared about UY. Does everyone try to keep the same use UY with multiple home resorts? I apologize for being dumb...I think I need someone to explain it to me like I'm 5. I don't understand the drawbacks for having a second membership number and a different UY.

 

[Tatebeck]

If you have multiple use years, you will have a separate membership ID for each use year. You won't be able to use the points from different use years together on a single booking at 7 months unless you call member services and transfer from one membership to the other (typically limited to once per year but we've heard that they are currently allowing more for people that are transferring between their own contracts).

If you are never going to need to use the points from both contracts on a single booking at 7 months, then it's not a huge deal, just requiring juggling two sets of points (edit: not logins). It could be worth it for a steal of a resale contract, or if you travel at 2 different times of the year and want to avoid taking trips past each use year's banking deadline (1 trip with each use year within 8 months of the start of each use year) but most people just choose to keep the same use year to make it much simpler

 

[TinkAgainU]

I will just mention, I have two Use Years and only sign in once - both show on my DVC Dashboard - when Booking trips, I just select the proper contract from a pulldown menu.

I would agree with the only one Use Year - unless - if you have 1) very few points and need extra WaitLists (you get two per Membership, per Use Year at a time; and 2) are good at keeping dates straight - for example, the timeframes for Banking unused points is unforgiving. And trying to book a complex trip, using points from multiple contracts is Really challenging if you are trying to use multiple use years as well - if you like Genie+ and love doing your own Taxes this would be a clue Multiple Use Years might be fine

 

[drusba]

Hi Disfriends!

DH and I purchased direct at GF in the spring of 2022; we purchased two contracts with a February use year. We are thrilled with our purchases and love GF. However, like many DVC folks, we are now suffering from "addonitis".

We love being able to walk from GF directly to the MK and we love being on the monorail for quick and easy access to the other monorail resorts. We have used our GF points to stay at GF as well as at CC, AKL, Riv, and OKW, and we realize that with any purchase in the future, we want to be able to walk to parks as much as possible. So, we have narrowed our search for our next DVC purchase to either BW or BC, as we love the idea of being able to walk to both EP and HS.

We loved how easy it was to purchase GF direct from Disney; our guide was great, closing was quick, and our points were easily and quickly accessible. However, in looking at a purchase at either BW or BC, it's much less expensive to purchase a resale contract, and we recognize that a contract at either of these places is going to expire much sooner than our GF contract. So resale, kind of makes more sense.

We have been looking at resale contracts, and I'm wondering what folks who have purchased a resale contract after purchasing direct have experienced. Here are my questions:

1. Is DVC member services still able to help us with questions and bookings using the points from a purchased resale contract? I consult DVC member services for all kinds of things right now.
2. Would I be able to still see my resale contract and manage points on the DVC website?
3. How long does it take to access points purchased once an offer has been accepted? I know that a purchase has to go through ROFR, and I've looked at charts on the Disboards that indicate it can take weeks and sometimes months for folks to have access to their points. I'm wondering if this is still the case? And, why is this?
4. Does paying cash instead of financing help speed up the access-to-points process?
5. We have visited both BC and BW and taken DVC tours at both places, but we have not stayed at either resort. (I've stayed a few nights at YC, tho.) Any advice or things to consider regarding BW and BC? Both are equi distant to EP and HS, relatively speaking. We like that BW requires a few less points for bookings, but we like the fact that BC has dedicated 2 bedrooms. The pool seems better at BC, but the crowds at that pool make BW's main pool seem calmer. I think we'd be happy with either resort, but I'm curious about other things we might not be thinking of?
6. What are things we need to consider with a different use year? We have a February use year with our direct GF contracts, and I recognize that purchasing a resale contract might give us a different use year with that contract. I'm not sure if this is good or not good? Pros and cons?

Any advice anyone has about these questions or general info about a resale purchase after purchasing direct from Disney would be so very helpful. In advance, thanks so much!

Replying separately to each point raised:

1 and 2. Yes

3. Estimate given above that it can take two months is accurate. You have to go through ROFR and Disney can take up to 30 days to respond to that, you then need to do a closing, and, after that, you have to wait some time for DVC to actually have your new contract in the system.

4. If you have a source of financing, the needed time may be somewhat longer because you also have to complete the financing arrangement. The real issue you can have is getting financing for a resale. A lot of lenders will not provide a mortgage and financing for a timeshare or charge very high interest -- they follow the reality that most timeshares have very little resale value and thus accepting the timeshare interest as the security for the loan may not be done. You can possibly get unsecured personal financing for a loan based on you own credit. Also, note that mortgage financing interest is deductible only on your first and second homes. Thus if you are still under a financing arrangement for VGF and your own home of residence, you may not be able to deduct interest on your taxes for that resale loan. Moreover, if it is a personal loan and not a mortgage secured by a real property interest that you own, the interest also will not be deductible even if it is the only loan that you have.

5. I own at BWV (since 1997). It remains my favorite resort. Location is ideal, boardwalk view rooms have the best views from any rooms anywhere at WDW, The pool has a long slide for the kids, you are wthin walking distance of a huge number of restaurants at BW, BCV. Swan/Dolphin and Epcot, and not too far from studios. The boardwalk has nightly entertainment. Nevertheless, I no longer recommend to anyone to purchase BWV. Not only are the resale prices very high for something that has only 18 years left, but the resort has a very serious reservation problem. Standard view studios and 2BRs book full within nanoseconds after 8 a.m. at 11-months out from any given date of arrival during the entire year. Boardwalk view studios and 2BRs do the same during the high demand fall season, late Sep to marathon weekend in Jan, and sometimes during the rest of the year. Even pool/garden view studios and 2BRs, and standard view and boardwalk view 1BRs have some risk of booking full right at 11-months out during extremely high demand times, such as during first two weeks of Dec and time around NYE. You can sometimes get rooms that book full at 11-months out after 11-months out as walkers pass by and others change their reservations, but getting a room becomes hard work constantly checking the reservation system and then getting lucky and often having to book a couple nights at time until you have booked all the nights you need.

BCV does not have an 11-month issue except rarely during first two weeks of Dec and time around NYE, and, but for one exception, it has never had it for dedicated 2BRs. The exception was for the period September 29 through Oct 1, 2021, when rooms almost everywhere booked full right at 11-months out. October 1 was the start of the Disney World 50th anniversary celebration.

6. Having two use years means you will have two different membership numbers. Both use years will be in the same online account, with the same log-in name and password as long as the owners named in the contracts for the different use years are the same. But you cannot mix the points from the two use years to make a single reservation without transferring points from one use year to the other. The alternative to transferring points when using the two use years for one trip is to reserve some dates with one use year and then the remaining dates with the other use year, and then contact DVC and have it link the reservations to avoid having to change rooms. The two use years will have different banking deadlines and thus you need to keep track. The annual dues bills are paid separately for each use year. So basically things are little more difficult than if you own only one use year.

I own two use years. I sometimes use them for the same vacation and usually follow that process of booking nights separately and then linking the reservations. Despite the extra work and need to keep track of what you are doing, there are some advantages to having two use years. Using the use years for trips at different times of year can avoid the harmful effects of doing a cancellation. If you have one use year and make a reservation for time toward the end of the use year, you have that cancellation issue. For a reservation at any time, you need to cancel no less than 31-days from date of arrival to avoid points going into holding, but with any reservation made for time toward the end of your use year, something may arise and make you cancel it, and if that cancellation occurs after the end of the eight month of your use year, then even if that is more than 30 days out from arrival, all current use year points that come out of the reservation cannot be banked and thus must be used by the end of the use year. Example, if you have a December use year, reserve a late October trip 11-months out, and have to cancel in mid-Sep, the points will need to be used for a reservation that ends no later than Nov 30 or be lost. And, as many know, trying to make a DVC reservation in mid-Sep for anytime in the fall at WDW of the same year can be an exercise in futility, even if you have a time you could go. With the two use years, you can avoid that cancellation issue by switching off use years for trips to assure any reservations occurs no later than the eighth month of a use year, so you can bank points if you need to cancel.

Another possible advantage is with purchasing One Time Use Points if needed. A member can purchase up to 24 OTUPs during any one use year. If you have a trip using two separate memberships having different use years, you can actually purchase up to 48 OTUPs for that trip

 

[Tatebeck]

I have two Use Years and only sign in once

Nice! That's better than I originally thought!

 

[TCRAIG]

Nice! That's better than I originally thought!

I have 5 UYs - one login gets me access to all 5.

 

[Tatebeck]

Yeah I guess I was remembering those who don't have them all titled the exact same way. That makes it a bit easier, still not sure I would want the hassle though!

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yeah I guess I was remembering those who don't have them all titled the exact same way. That makes it a bit easier, still not sure I would want the hassle though!

There can be some advantages for DVC Ninjas who do lots of renting/transferring/wait listing/etc…. but the overwhelming majority (not all) of members would tell you to try to have as few as possible, with 1 being the optimal number.

 

[TinkAgainU]

See graph below. You'll always want to know exactly how many of each unit are at each Resort before picking a resort (also be sure to check occupancy - families of 5 learnt this the hard way) and calculating points needed. This charts shows unit types and rough availablity at 7 months for example. You can get the full chart for free at the website I think.

The book you can order online - The DVC Field Guide www.dvcfieldguide.com ($13?) has a Ton of info I still use regularly - super helpful. Everything in it is available for free somewhere if you Google to death lol - but I like it for easy reference. Here is an excerpt from the website too... (I refer new people to this publication a lot, but I have no $ connection to it lol)

 

[dvc lover 1970]

I would think long and hard before adding on any 2042 resort. It would have to be for a really good price. If your heart is set on BC or BW, pick whichever has. the better price. I own at BC - and really wanted to add on at BW - we did not because of the early expiration.

 

[TinkAgainU]

I would think long and hard before adding on any 2042 resort. It would have to be for a really good price. If your heart is set on BC or BW, pick whichever has. the better price. I own at BC - and really wanted to add on at BW - we did not because of the early expiration.

I agree if you divide the upfront cost by a 50 year contract (for example Disneyland Hotel) and a 18 year contract - the numbers look FAR different. I did my math based on 10 years since that's how long "people say" is the average time a DVC contract is kept. In ten years, in theory, both contracts will be worth less money - how much would require a crystal ball.

There are a LOT of ways to do the math - and to weigh the benefits and liabilities - most of them make owning ANY timeshare a challenge. We actually had no issue with a 2042 expiration since that also means, whatever happens in the world, some percentage of our fees stop at that point (since we also have Grand Floridian which would continue until 2064), which had some mental benefit since we ran the annual fees on a five percent per year (our own guesstimate number) inflation scale and did not want those numbers to go on for 50 years. Last - we wanted to be on Crescent Lake for all the obvious reasons - so one of the two 2042's were the options.

 

[BuzzLightyr]

People worry about the 2042 expiration way too much on this forum. There will be plenty of opportunity to add onto new resorts. Something will still be at boardwalk and beach club - whether they give us an extension (similar to OKW) or if they offer up something new.

The difference between 2042 and 2060ish (depending on resort) is maybe worth $20/point. A vacation in 2025 isn't worth the same as a vacation in 2043.

I'd put a value on each point in it's use year.
You could easily rent out the points for $18/point today
You could rent points from others at $25/point
Disney will buy back direct points from MB at $20/point (just as a sense of value)
Points come with $8.1-$8.67 dues today
Today, if you assume a $20 benefit per point, that's roughly a $11 value to each point (+/- if you value them at $18-25)

In the future -you need to make an assumption of how much dues will go up vs. the value of the points (what you would pay to use them or rent them). How does this $11 spread move in the future. I'll assume some compression in the value to $10 - but you can move this higher/lower.

Then you need a discount rate - whether it's 10% for a very good finance rate, a 5% rate on cash. This is very different from 2020/2021 where you earned 0% for your cash.

2043 is 19 years away.
$10 of value 19 years away at a 10% discount rate is $10/(1.10)^19 = $1.63
$10 of value 36 years away at a 10% discount rate is $10/(1.10)&36 = $0.32
If you average that, that's roughly $1/point ($0.98 to be exact, or your can calculate out each year in excel)
If you have 17 extra years and each extra year is worth $1/point, that's $17.

Looking at the price difference between BWV/BCV and something longer like BLT - pricing seems very reasonable.

 

[Little E]

OP here. You all have given me such good insight and advice. Thank you SO much!!! I have much better understanding of the ins and outs of the same vs different use years now. Gah! So much to process here, but the info you all have shared has been great. Keep the info coming!!! This is why I love Disboards so much!!

We are still weighing the pros and cons of BC vs BW...I think we'll be happy with whichever we wind up with. We're not overly worried about the 2042 expiration. Having bought direct at GF, our expiration on the GF points puts us at 2064; we feel like we have time to figure things out in the next 18 years.

I think we're actually leaning a little more towards BC as they have dedicated 2 bedrooms and they are virtually impossible to book at the 7 month mark. DH and I did Food & Wine RunDisney last year and I tried to snag a 1 bedroom at the 7 month mark. I just didn't "stalk" BC/BW enough and we wound up with a 1 bedroom at CC, which was very nice. We decided CC was a one and done because it just felt very "planes, trains, and automobiles" to get places, which sort of cemented our desire for a place like GF that is walkable to parks, hence BC/BW.

Fast forward to this year, and DH and I were able to get into the RunDisney Food and Wine races again. I booked a studio at GF at 11 months, hoping we'd get in. When we did, I started stalking for a 1 bedroom at BW/BC and I was able to snag one at BW. BC was impossible. Am I right in that BW is a little easier to snag at 7 months over BC? If I am, it seems like BC is then smarter to have as a home resort to have that 11 month advantage. Resale prices seem to be more or less comparable between the two resorts.

Also, I'm curious about quiet pools at both resorts. Our sons are college age, and so we all are more about chilling at a quiet pool. We have no need for loud music, shenanigans, etc at the pool. Are quiet pools nice at both places and are they easy to get to from villas?