Helping a friend - what is the best website to rent a DVC reservation for an owner who needs full-service?

[Marjo2022]

yep, we rented from an owner at bay lake towers. going rate at the time was 1000/night or so for a 2br

Was that a1000 dollars per night?

 

[DanCali]

Was that a1000 dollars per night?

For a 2BR Disney reservation you can expect to pay that amount per night, and even substantially more ($1500+/night) if you want a 2BR Aulani Ocean View during summer break (costs 84 points/night to book). What you pay will generally be in direct relation to the actual cost to the owner. If you go through one of the "middlemen" like Dave's DVD Rentals, you will pay $21-$23 per point (they pay owners $18) and if you rent directly from an owner, you may pay 10%-15% less. But since Disney is renting Aulani 2BR Villas with Garden View for early June (2024) for $2200/night after taxes, that's actually a "good price", and early June is not even the peak summer season I was referring to above. I just couldn't easily find stuff available to book direct for July-August.

If you look on RedWeek you will see that most reservations listed for rent are for studios because studios are the most economical to book at DVC and are affordable to rent for more people. Studios can also be very hard for owners to book in some cases. 1BR units cost about double than studios, and 2BR units are about triple. The cost will also vary by resort/season where resorts like Animal Kingdom Villas, Old Key West, and Saratoga Springs will be less pricy. You can see a DVC points chart online here to get an idea of the cost to book with points. As a renter, expect to pay $18-$23 per point, depending onwhat route you take.

If that seems expensive, you should know that renting DVC is hardly as lucrative for owners as it may initially seem. It's a way for owners to prevent unused points from expiring and recover some costs, but it's not particularly attractive as an "investment opportunity". For example, one can buy a 2BR Platinum Marriott week on the resale market (say Newport Coast Villas) for around $8000 and rent it for about $1600-$2000 above maintenance fees annually. So that strategy would recover the upfront purchase cost in about 4- 5 years. With DVC, maintenance fees are generally $7-$9/point so an owner might rent their week for $10/point above maintenance fees, but the cost of acquiring points (via resale market) is $100-$160 per point, depending on the home resort (Grand Californian is over $300/point resale if you can find it), so the amount of time it'd take to recover the upfront cost is at least 10-16 years, and often times longer. Compared to the Marriott example - it's a much less attractive proposition. More importantly, Marriott are perpetual deeds so an owner can presumably resell their week in 15-20 years and still have substantial residual value (Newport Coast resale prices 10 years ago were also $8000). Disney deeds resale prices fluctuate up and down, but they do expire and are therefore guaranteed to eventually become worthless. So those DVC annual "investment" returns are even lower if you amortize the deed over 40 years and assume a $3 annual capital loss in the initial investment on average.

 

[tschwa2]

Was that a1000 dollars per night?

Yes I looked at a non holiday November week and 2BR unit was in the neighborhood of $6000-$10,000 per week through an owner vs $10,000-$15,000 through Disney. That is why I was warning about sticker shock if you aren't aware of the prices. That is why people get so excited about being able to exchange in through exchange companies like interval international.

 

[DanCali]

Yes I looked at a non holiday November week and 2BR unit was in the neighborhood of $6000-$10,000 per week through an owner vs $10,000-$15,000 through Disney. That is why I was warning about sticker shock if you aren't aware of the prices. That is why people get so excited about being able to exchange in through exchange companies like interval international.

Can people get resorts like Bay Lake or Grand Floridian via II?

It seems that the vast majority of DVC inventory in II is studios at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs, and sometimes maybe Animal Kingdom Villas? Some 1BR units may be available in the lower seasons. But have people had consistent success with more, or is it just a selling point for Marriott salespeople?

 

[bnoble]

Can people get resorts like Bay Lake or Grand Floridian via II?

Grand Floridian has yet to be seen via II or RCI. Bay Lake has been seen in both (I think only studios since the switch back to II, but am not sure about that). This goes back a bit, but I exchanged into a 2BR Lake View at BLT for my kids' spring break one year via RCI. I suspect that would be much harder today--and maybe not possible.

As always with exchange, the more flexible you are about season, resort, and unit size, the better your chances. But, that flexibility can be repaid with a stay that ends up costing a lot less than any other way you could do it. In II, my total exchange costs are around $1,400 for the week. I might be "stuck" with an SSR 1BR, but that's a screaming good deal compared to renting. At worst, it's about $8.80/point (a September Standard view), which is in the ballpark for DVC dues. In the season I usually go, it's more like $6.05 for a Standard 1BR, less than a DVC owner would pay in Dues, and for a week that I "adopted" for free rather than paying $20K for.

 

[DanCali]

Grand Floridian has yet to be seen via II or RCI. Bay Lake has been seen in both (I think only studios in II, but am not sure about that). This goes back a bit, but I exchanged into a 2BR Lake View at BLT for my kids' spring break one year via RCI. I suspect that would be much harder today--and maybe not possible.

As always with exchange, the more flexible you are about season, resort, and unit size, the better your chances. But, that flexibility can be repaid with a stay that ends up costing a lot less than any other way you could do it. In II, my total exchange costs are around $1,400 for the week. I might be "stuck" with an SSR 1BR, but that's a screaming good deal compared to renting. At worst, it's about $8.80/point (a September Standard view), which is in the ballpark for DVC dues. In the season I usually go, it's more like $6.05, less than a DVC owner would pay in Dues, and for a week that I "adopted" for free rather than paying $20K for.

I've seen those studios at SSR and OKW in II too for late spring and fall, and they could be grabbed with around 1750 Marriott points or the smaller portion of some 2BR lockoffs I own. Even though I own DVC already that would be tempting to grab with some of my other ownerships, but we lack the flexibility at least until we are empty nesters and not tied to school calendars.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Regarding exchanging into DVC, deposits tend to be villas that are in lesser demand by owners. Thus SSR and OKW 1BR villas are the most commonly available. However, some of the other resorts such as AKV and BWV and some studios and 2BR have popped up on II recently, so it doesn’t hurt to put in an ongoing search with II while researching the rental market. Be aware that the more popular the time of year is with owners, the less likely a deposit for that time will come up, and the most in-demand time of year for DVC owners is from mid-September through Marathon Weekend in early January. So an ongoing search for a spring or summer week is more likely to match than one for early December, for example.

You might want to start reading the DVC RCI/II thread on the Sightings forum - https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/2023-dvc-ii-and-rci-exchanges.343422/ - to get a better idea of DVC exchange availability.

 

[tschwa2]

Can people get resorts like Bay Lake or Grand Floridian via II?

It seems that the vast majority of DVC inventory in II is studios at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs, and sometimes maybe Animal Kingdom Villas? Some 1BR units may be available in the lower seasons. But have people had consistent success with more, or is it just a selling point for Marriott salespeople?

Certainly not in 2BR. There have been random reports of studios and 1BR in resorts like Bay Lake and Boardwalk Villas but not Grand Floridian. If Marjo is anything like me, she isn't looking to spend over $5000 for a 2BR for the ability to stay onsite so the nicer resorts are ridiculously out of reach and Old Key West and Saratoga Springs for less than $1500 all in, through interval is a super bargain.