Considering buying Disney's Aulani

frank808 · Sep 14, 2016

smmatrix said:
presley said:

Our salesman said the subsidize maintenance fee contracts do not roll over in resale deals and that they are reset to normal levels. In other words, the subsidized maintenance fees are lost forever once the contract is sold. Anyone confirm?

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If you find a resale subsidized contract it will absolutely be a subsidized contract. The points do not lose the subsidy on resale. The subsidized dues follow the points in the contract.

You might not need so many points now and a studio is fine. But as the kids get older you will want more room. Also having the kitchen full size refrigerator and washer dryer in the room is great. I find out because of having in room washer and dryer you can save on the luggage fees by packing less clothes.

frank808 · Sep 14, 2016

smmatrix said:
Thanks all for your good advice. I canceled my 50 point purchase and decided to buy entirely resale. Of interesting note is how prices have drastically increased over the last few years. I met a DVC member which bought direct at $85/point in 2011. Prices have been going up every year since and now it's $171/point. Resale hovers around $110/point currently. I bet resale prices were around $50/point a few years ago. Where will prices be 10 years from now?

Direct prices started about $50 a point way back in 1991. You also got free wdw passes for length of stay for registered occupants in the dvc room. The cheapest I bought direct was at VGC for $86 a point with incentives. Also back then there were no closing costs by buying direct. Also only had to pay one months maintenance fee for a year of points.

icydog said:
I bought 275 BCV points, that included an extra 275 banked 2016 points and 44 2015 points, for $115 a point. By having those extra 275 points in the contract, WITHOUT ME PAYING MAINTENANCE FEES, cut the buy-in price in half.

You value the one year of points at $57.50 a point?

icydog · Sep 14, 2016

frank808 said:
Direct prices started about $50 a point way back in 1991. You also got free wdw passes for length of stay for registered occupants in the dvc room. The cheapest I bought direct was at VGC for $86 a point with incentives. Also back then there were no closing costs by buying direct. Also only had to pay one months maintenance fee for a year of points.

You value the one year of points at $57.50 a point?

I paid $115 per point for 275 points. I asked the seller to bank her 275 points from 2016 into 2017 use year. (I also got 44 points for 2015 that'll probably never get used)
Since you pay per point for your contract I got 550 points for 2017 instead of 275 points which would equal $57.50 per point

frank808 · Sep 14, 2016

icydog said:
I paid $115 per point for 275 points. I asked the seller to bank her 275 points from 2016 into 2017 use year. (I also got 44 points for 2015 that'll probably never get used)
Since you pay per point for your contract I got 550 points for 2017 instead of 275 points which would equal $57.50 per point

If you to spec rent the points you would get about $20 per point. You have two years worth of points but have to pay maintenance fee on one years of points so subtract about $7 a point. $20+$20-$7=$33
How did get your numbers that with one years of free points that it paid for half your contract?
Not being argumentitive but just making sure op doesn't think that by buying a contract with one years worth of banked points it will cut the aquisition costs in half.

travelplus · Sep 28, 2016

smmatrix said:
I've been a member here for several months and I know better than buying at developer prices, but I am wondering is there ever a good reason to buy from the developer?

I am here at Disney's Aulani and this is an amazing resort. It's over-the-top impressive, exceeds all expectations, fantastic in every way. I don't want to leave and will surely want to come here every year for eternity. I also see a Aulani is rated #2 best resorts on TUG... and for good reason!

I am tempted to attend a timeshare presentation though the reward is only $50.

I am a Worldmark owner and vacation 8 to 10 weeks per year. I love my Worldmark but they are merely homes away from home. Aulani is a whole different breed whereas I can be here easily for a week without wanting to leave the property. My two 3-year-old twins, boy and girl, love it here. So many things to do. Good reasons to buy?

OP I hear you out on this but my opinion would be to find a rental and contact a couple of renters and see if you can setup a recurring rental from them. If you know your dates(which most schools provide two years in advance) or go every summer you would do better. Also you may decide to go to other Disney Resorts like in Florida so you could rent from them,

If you see a good resale and check out the Maintenance Fees are within you reach this is good but if it were me I would rent it out until you really see your kids and you like it.

When we bought our resales we rented before we bought and am glad we did. We just purchased a Sedona Summit resort which I went on a tour and then I showed my Parents why they would love it so we bought it.

We rented at The Ridge Tahoe and bought it after renting. Especially for Disney I would never fathom of just buying something as there could be a doubt would you really use it every year. Hawaii flights can go for $600 per person when I could fly to Thailand for that much and rent a nice luxury resort on Phuket.

You may decide to purchase with another company like Diamond or Marriott/Westin and you could use one week with Wetin and rent out Aulani for your second and possibly third week there.

Just my 2 cents.

smmatrix · Sep 29, 2016

I wanted to provide an update and give a huge thanks to the members of this forum for all your good advices. I had originally opened this thread while staying at Aulani and while experiencing one of the top 3 vacations of my lifetime. That alone says a lot because we typically vacation several weeks each year. Staying at Disney's Aulani was truly magical for us.

My family and I look forward to going back each year. I had seriously considered buying direct while there, canceled a buying contract, but as a seasoned Worldmark owner and being a member on this forum, I knew there were less expensive buying avenues.

Since our return back to Oregon, through a recommended broker in this thread, I found a deal and purchased.

9/12: Returned from Aulani
9/15: Offer made: $90/pt 200 points. 400 points for 2016 (200 + 200 banked 2015) + 200 for 2017. $18,000 Seller pays closing costs.
9/16: Offer accepted, signed purchase agreement, mailed deposit check.
9/17: Disney's ROFR submitted.
9/28: Disney approved purchase notification.
9/28: Estoppels ordered

smmatrix · Sep 29, 2016

travelplus said:
We rented at The Ridge Tahoe and bought it after renting. Especially for Disney I would never fathom of just buying something as there could be a doubt would you really use it every year. Hawaii flights can go for $600 per person when I could fly to Thailand for that much and rent a nice luxury resort on Phuket.

You may decide to purchase with another company like Diamond or Marriott/Westin and you could use one week with Wetin and rent out Aulani for your second and possibly third week there.

Just my 2 cents.

We already own Worldmark and have stayed at many of their resorts. We've also stayed at various timeshare resorts around the world and nothing quite matched our experience at Aulani. At other resorts, after a couple days, we looked forward to getting off property and exploring the lands, shopping, etc... not with Aulani. We never wanted to leave and many other people share the same experience.

Yes, quite aware of the airfare prices to Hawaii and how they're so steep especially during the summer. We also travel often to SE Asia, stayed at Phuket resorts and own a home in Cebu (poor man's hawaii) which we visit often. Airfares are similar but you can use 100k British Airways miles and get 4 flights on Alaska Airlines, so for 25k miles for each of us, family of four, it's the best deal around for round trip tickets to Hawaii. Nobody else comes close. Miles are easily accumulated using their credit card.

Being that the children are still toddlers, there is no doubt we will continue to use Disney in all the years to come in the foreseeable future.

smmatrix · Sep 29, 2016

icydog said:
I bought my points at $50 per point in 1992. I had lots of contracts and sold them all after my husband died ( something I would never advise doing)

My kids and I couldn't stand not owning DVC so I bought a couple of BCV and OKW (extended to 2057) contracts on the resale market.

I just received notice TODAY that my newest acquisition passed ROFR. I bought 275 BCV points, that included an extra 275 banked 2016 points and 44 2015 points, for $115 a point. By having those extra 275 points in the contract, WITHOUT ME PAYING MAINTENANCE FEES, cut the buy-in price in half.

There are many Disney Vacation Club Aulani available on ResalesDVC.com

There is one there with banked points. That's the only way to buy a resale contract imho.. If you have any questions about what to buy, where to buy (buy where you want to go) or what use year you should buy, just give me a holler by PM or email icydog@comcast.net. I get NO comission From the Tutas Famiy, the owners of the website, but I do recommend them hardily!

I also bought from ResalesDVC.com. They had good prices, great website and reviews, and excellent communication. Professional all the way.

I justified this purchase in my mind and lightly penciled the math out this way:

Totally FREE or Spend $135,000. Which one would you choose?

Assuming we go to Disney each year for the next 15 years and spend $3500 on a simple hotel room. That's $52,500. Prices will practically double within 10 years based on historicals, but we'll play that one conservatively and suggest prices will be $6000 in ten years and not one penny less in meantime. So another $15,000. Keep in mind this is for a hotel room only. The kids won't like a hotel room in a couple years and we'll much prefer to have a kitchen with washer/dryer. Costs are nearly 150% more for a one-bedroom villa vs hotel room, but for conservative estimates, we'll only say double. $67,500 doubled = $135,000 total spent, wasted and never to be seen again.

OR

Buy into DVC. Spend $18,000 upfront and $1300 each year for dues. Based on historical performance, in 10 year gaps, going back to 1991 when DVC started selling. Resellers have been able to sell their DVC memberships for large and substantial profits... even when they buy at inflated direct prices. My guesstimate is we will be able to sell our 200 points in 15 years for a low price of $35,000 to around $50,000, thus getting my purchase price back and practically ALL our annual dues returned. Therefore all future Disney vacations for the next 15 years are totally free, besides the airfare and food, of course.

Spend $135,000 or vacation totally free... it's a no brainer. Where did I go wrong in my calculations?

frank808 · Sep 29, 2016

Past performance does not guarantee future performance. For timeshares I donot value them worth anything when i sell. If they are worth something, then it will be a nice bonus.
Looks like you made a nice logical conclusion for yourself. Enjoy your new home.

Considering buying Disney's Aulani

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