Looking at buying DVC, questions

[Galun]

Hello! My family of 4 had been going to Disney enough that we are now contemplating a purchase into DVC. We live in Northern California and would primarily want to use Grand Californian and Aulani. I have a few questions.

1) I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out. However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance. If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?

2) I am trying to understand use year. I know that's when I will get my points. But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period? Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August. What use year should I try to buy?

3) How easy is it to transfer points? In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work. Does it matter where my home resort or use year is? Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?

4) Special assessements. How do owners feel about the potential for Disney to put special assessments on DVC owners?

5) How much does it cost to resell? We are always thinking about the worst case scenario, and in this case it would be lack of usage down the road. What are the costs associated with reselling through a broker, in addition to whatever price we can get for our contract?

Thanks!

 

[ptlohmysoul]

2) I am trying to understand use year. I know that's when I will get my points. But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period? Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August. What use year should I try to buy?
3) How easy is it to transfer points? In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work. Does it matter where my home resort or use year is? Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?
5) How much does it cost to resell? We are always thinking about the worst case scenario, and in this case it would be lack of usage down the road. What are the costs associated with reselling through a broker, in addition to whatever price we can get for our contract?

I can answer some based on my recent research, not experience:
2)It doesn't have much effect on the booking period. The only concern is if you need to cancel your reservations, and your points are close to expire, so most people recommend you avoid contracts that the UY is summer time or Sept., although others say it matters little.
3)You can only transfer points once a year, in or out. However, you can book reservations in another person's name whenever (less limitations). It can matter where your home resort is, as a highly valued dvc such as VGC could possibly be rented at higher $ because of higher demand. However, when the points are closer to expire, they might only be able to be rented for less, or when the 7 month booking timeframe makes them equal anyone else's points.
5) 10% commission to seller (from you), usuallly buyer pays closing costs, fidelity charges an additional $200 admin. fee which I'm not sure who pays,
resale value is great for a timeshare, but don't expect to make any money, just be glad you will get some $ back

 

[MichaelColey]

Studios on Weekends are probably the hardest units to get. People like Studios because the point cost is so much lower and people have the most flexibility on weekends.

I know I've seen people posting availability right at 7 months, but it's fairly spotty and disappears quickly.

Resale VGC points cost about twice as much as some of the cheaper resale points, so it's really a tough call. I would expect that they might rent for higher amounts, though.

 

[presley]

1.) It is highly unlikely that you would be able to book a weekend at the 7 month mark. It isn't impossible, but many, many people have bought other resorts with their goal being to trade to VGC. There just aren't enough rooms for everyone.

3.) You are allowed one transfer per use year. That means you can either have a transfer coming in or a transfer going out. Transferred points hold their original resort and use year booking advantages. The cost is normally the same for every resort, but since Vero and Aulani pay much higher MFs than most, perhaps they will charge more.... depends on the owner.

5.) Reselling is very easy as it is a high demand timeshare. The only future issue is that Disney plans on changing more of the benefits associated with direct vs. resale purchases. That potentially could drive down the resale prices, but that won't affect anyone buying where they want to stay. The brokers take 10% commission.

 

[rhonda]

1) I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out. However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance. If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?

We use our DVC SSR points to book VGC periodically. Recent history include:

• 4 nights over this coming Memorial Day weekend, studio unit (had a 1BR booked but later downgraded to conserve points)
• 4 nights, studio unit, this past Feb for our Anniversary.
• 3 nights, 1BR with perfect view of WOC, April 2012

If you are flexible and don't mind hunting for inventory on the member website, you should be able to find a few nights here'n'there. 2BR units are easiest to book (less demand) ... so plan your point requirements accordingly.

 

[rhonda]

2) I am trying to understand use year. I know that's when I will get my points. But how does it factor into the 11 month home resort and 7 month any resort booking period? Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August. What use year should I try to buy?

UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation -- but does have much influence on banking options. The general thought is to choose a UY near to the beginning of your intended travel dates, in your case maybe April or June UYs?

In depth article on choosing a UY:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1942668

 

[rhonda]

3) How easy is it to transfer points? In case we cannot use the points, I read about the ability to transfer / rent for about $10 - $11 a point with relatively little work. Does it matter where my home resort or use year is? Can a point in say SSR or VB transfer for the same price as a point in VGC?

I recently completed my first-ever transfer. It was super easy ... from first phone call to verification of successful transfer took about 4 hours total. HOWEVER --

• As stated earlier, you may only perform one transfer per year.
• The transferred points retain their original home resort and UY. If you own VGC but transfer in a pool of SRR, don't expect the SSR points to morph into VGC points. The SSR points can be used for booking 11 months out for SSR but only 7 months out for other locations.
• Transfered points can be banked. Banked points cannot be transferred.
• The member website isn't aware of transferred points. You won't see the balance online and you can't book online against the transferred points. Transactions involving the transferred points will require a phone call to Member Services.

FWIW, I rented my transferred points through a Disney Resale broker. The broker handled all the comms and the money transfers. Super fast, super easy and with high confidence in the elusive "trust" factor.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I recently completed my first-ever transfer. It was super easy ... from first phone call to verification of successful transfer took about 4 hours total. HOWEVER --

• As stated earlier, you may only perform one transfer per year.
• The transferred points retain their original home resort and UY. If you own VGC but transfer in a pool of SRR, don't expect the SSR points to morph into VGC points. The SSR points can be used for booking 11 months out for SSR but only 7 months out for other locations.
• Transfered points can be banked. Banked points cannot be transferred.
• The member website isn't aware of transferred points. You won't see the balance online and you can't book online against the transferred points. Transactions involving the transferred points will require a phone call to Member Services.

FWIW, I rented my transferred points through a Disney Resale broker. The broker handled all the comms and the money transfers. Super fast, super easy and with high confidence in the elusive "trust" factor.

There is one other issue relating to transfers about which you should be aware. Transferred points can only be used to book over the phone, not online. The booking window opens at 8 am eastern for online booking and at 9 am for booking over the telephone. When booking GCV at 7 months, this one hour delay can mean the difference between booking a reservation and getting on the waitlist.

-- Suzanne

 

[Galun]

Thank you very much for all the replies!

 

[blondietink]

Use year hasn't matter much to us. I have never known DVC to do a special assessment. Refurbishment is figured into your yearly maintenance/dues. However, after Vero Beach got hit by a hurricane a few years ago, their yearly fees per point went up substantially and they have stayed pretty high due to repairs and/or increased insurance costs.

 

[spencersmama]

My Use Year did affect me this year. My use year is from Aug 1 - Jul 31st. The problem is that at this point in our lives, we generally travel at the end of July/beginning of August. I had reservations for mid-July, but my son's summer schedule changed and we had to change our reservations. I would have preferred to change our reservations to the first week in August, but we had to make sure the reservations started before the use year ended. We had enough notice that we arranged things so that everything worked out, but I could see how it could have been as issue if there wasn't availability. I could have been hard so close to the end of the use year.

 

[lilpooh108]

I disagree that UY doesn't affect reservations. I should have thought about this more when I bought, but now I have to plan around my issue, which is this.

We always travel the last week of November, 1st week of December. I have a Dec UY.

The system prohibits you from searching overlapping use years. So---I can't EVER put in a search for check in Nov 27 check out Dec 3. This also means that I have to borrow points for the Nov portion of my stay (assuming I have no prior year points). This affects alot of things, among which is availability at the 11 month period, and the lifespan of points if I decide to cancel November portions of my stays. If I had known of this quirk, I would have chosen a Sept UY instead.

So to the OP---I would actually pick a UY that is a few months before the month in which you actually travel. If you like to travel late May/early June, don't pick June. Pick April.

 

[JPrisco]

The system prohibits you from searching overlapping use years. So---I can't EVER put in a search for check in Nov 27 check out Dec 3.

So to the OP---I would actually pick a UY that is a few months before the month in which you actually travel. If you like to travel late May/early June, don't pick June. Pick April.

Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years. I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).

I do agree with picking a use year a few months after you usually travel, because if you have to cancel last minute you still have time to use your points.

JP

 

[lilpooh108]

Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years. I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).

Wow, really? Do you search by calling in or online? If online, then I will have to call their tech dept and see if something is wrong w/my account. However, the notation specifically says that I cannot search overlapping UY.

I know that I can book overlapping UY if I split up the reservation, but at the moment I'm not even able to put in dates that would overlap my UY. In essence, I lose the 11 month advantage for Dec dates on a Nov check in b/c I can't book 7 days out from 11/27, etc.

To the OP--- I forgot to add in my prior post. I own at Aulani. Early June through July is incredibly hard to book at Aulani at 7 months. There were quite a few threads on Disboards last year regarding this issue. I guess west coast people tend to go right at the beginning of their summer break. Unless you own at Aulani, NYE week is nearly impossible (2013 NYE is booked up already, and we're at the 8 month mark). So Golden week, June/July, and NYE week is shut out unless you own. Everything else seems doable at the 7month mark. I don't own at VGC, but I've heard its incredibly hard to get simply b/c there's just not that many units available. Aulani availability may change later on as they declare more units.

Resale-- I was able to resell my small BWV contract w/in 2 days of listing it, for $2 per point less than I bought it for 2 years ago (excluding commission & notary fees). BWV just wasn't attractive to us after staying there, so I decided to sell it. The MFs were also a bit higher than what I wanted to pay for a resort I didn't really like.

BTW, if you intend on buying retail...Grand Floridian is coming out if you're interested in that, and willing to wait a few months.

 

[dvc_john]

Funny, I have never had an issue with searching overlapping use years. I have made a reservation checking in on May 30th and out June 3rd (I have a June use year).

I guess I've never booked a vacation spanning UY's. But I just did a test to see what would happen. I have a June UY, and tested for a reservation of May 30 - June 5, and I got the following message:

Your travel dates may not overlap two Use Years. Please contact Member Services at (800) xxx-xxxx to help you book your stay.

 

[alwysonvac]

1) I have read about difficulty in getting VGC on exact dates without owning VGC and the ability to book 11 months out. However we do have flexibility since it is within driving distance. If we have flexibility on weekends, how hard is it to trade into VGC studio or 1BR?

Let's say my ideal time to travel to DVC destinations is during summer time, June / July / August.....

If you want to book a studio or one bedroom anytime during the summer (peak travel season) regardless of the number of nights buy VGC.


WHY?

(1) VGC has a limited number of rooms. It only has 23 Dedicated Two Bedroom, 23 Lockoff Two Bedroom (which can be booked separately as a one bedroom or a studio) and 2 Three Bedroom Grand Villa.
IMPACT: There is more demand than supply therefore there will be competition through out the year

(2) Most families will want to stay when the kids are out of school (spring/summer/winter break, holidays and weekends).
IMPACT: Expect the highest competition for timeshare stays anytime the kids are out of school from both VGC owners and non-VGC owners.

(3) VGC point chart is very high compared to the older DVC resorts. Most folks will try to stretch their points by booking the smallest room size they can manage for longer stays. DVC owners will also try to book during the cheapest DVC season.
IMPACT: Studios and one bedrooms are the first to be booked since they cost the least amount of points.

There was a thread on the disboards that talked about the difficulty of booking Aulani for June 2013 during Choice Season (June 1 to 23) before the point requirement go up in Magic Season for the rest of the summer (June 24 thru Aug 31).
Disboard thread - http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3023272
NOTE: I'm assuming June during Choice season will always be hard to book at the 7 month mark for both Aulani and VGC since it offers the lowest point option in the summer.

Here's what I posted last year regarding 2013 online availability
January & February 2013 online availability for VGC (as of 7/31/12) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1336231&postcount=31
March & April 2013 online availability for VGC (as of 9/22/12) -
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1363458&postcount=47
Late March thru July 2013 online availability for VGC and Aulani (as of 12/23/12) - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1400851&postcount=60
NOTE: Based on the availability I posted, I wouldn't advise anyone to buy a non-VGC resort if there intent was to mainly stay at VGC in a studio or one bedroom.

Link to DVC Points Charts
Grand Californian - http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...DisneyVacationClub_GrandCalifornianVillas.pdf
Aulani - http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...intsChart_DisneyVacationClub_AulaniVillas.pdf

Link to DVC Maintenance Fee History (per point by DVC resort) - http://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/owning-dvc/faqs?task=view&id=51

Good Luck and Welcome to TUG

 

[JPrisco]

Wow, really? Do you search by calling in or online?

I must have called it in. I didn't recall doing that, but I must have since I get the message online too.

 

[lilpooh108]

Yup, that overlapping UY issue is always getting in my way. It really drives me nuts.

 

[rhonda]

I disagree that UY doesn't affect reservations. I should have thought about this more when I bought, but now I have to plan around my issue, which is this.

I agree (strongly) that UY is an important element in the purchase decision and should be chosen with care. I linked to the longer thread in hopes the OP would do additional research.

What I said above is, "UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation," in that it has no interaction with the 7-month or 11-month reservation window which appeared to be the focus of the OP's train of thought. Make sense?

 

[lilpooh108]

What I said above is, "UY plays no role in when you may book a reservation," in that it has no interaction with the 7-month or 11-month reservation window which appeared to be the focus of the OP's train of thought. Make sense?

It makes sense, but in certain situations it is incorrect that UY "plays no role."

If you cannot search during the period in which UY overlap, and you would like to check in on November 27 in order to stay 1 week, then effectively you are at a disadvantage with respect to others which have the full 11 month advantage checking in on November 27th.

If you have to essentially split up the reservation by booking Nov. 27 to Nov 30, then Dec 1 onwards, someone who was able to book the entire 7 days online checking in Nov 27th just got a 4 day headstart on the 11 month advantage.

Of course you can always wait 1 hour after online reservations are open to call MS to book the entire 7 day stay, but then you've just lost 1 hour lead time to book your reservation. For things like treehouses, grandvillas, AKV club, AKV value, this 1 hour will matter.

 

[Galun]

Thanks for all the additional replies!

lilpooh108 - thanks for the color on Aulani availability. We do live in the west coast but we have flexibility in when to go during summer. It looks like there is availability 7 months out for August which is good enough for us.

alwysonvac - thanks for the color on VGC. VGC is within driving distance so we do have flexibility even though the kids are in school. I guess we will see whether we are satisfied with the availability 7 months out once we made the purchase.

rhonda - thanks for your suggestions on UY. We have decided on December UY. We do most of our traveling in the summer, and we think Dec UY gives us the most flexibility with our strategy to buy at a chepaer resport, book 7 months out, and get into our desired resort. It also give us the ability to bank points by 7/31 in case we need to cancel our summer vacation.

 

[Myxdvz]

rhonda - thanks for your suggestions on UY. We have decided on December UY. We do most of our traveling in the summer, and we think Dec UY gives us the most flexibility with our strategy to buy at a chepaer resport, book 7 months out, and get into our desired resort. It also give us the ability to bank points by 7/31 in case we need to cancel our summer vacation.

If you do all your travelling in the summer - you don't want a December UY. December UYs are best for travel 12/1 - August/31. After this, any cancellation will be too late to bank.

If you truly vacation in the summer (June to August), a June UY is best.

 

[Galun]

If you do all your travelling in the summer - you don't want a December UY. December UYs are best for travel 12/1 - August/31. After this, any cancellation will be too late to bank.

If you truly vacation in the summer (June to August), a June UY is best.

School starts the first week of September so we will get our traveling done by August anyways. I figure if we need to cancel a summer vacation we will know by 7/31 to bank the points. We will receive the points on 12/1 allows us to book 7/1 - 8/31 vacation 7 months out.

I can definitely see the advantage of buying June UY at a home resort for summer since I can take advantage of the 11 months booking window.

 

[chalee94]

I can definitely see the advantage of buying June UY at a home resort for summer since I can take advantage of the 11 months booking window.

not clear what you mean.

june is a good choice for summer vacations because it gives you more options if you need to cancel.

but you get the 11 month window based on home resort - nothing at all to do with UY. if your UY month is june, you can call in july 2013 to book june 2014. if your UY month is dec, you can still call in july 2013 to book june 2014. 11 months = 11 months no matter what your UY month.

if i bought a resale contract with a june UY that was stripped and didn't have any pts coming till the june 2015 UY, i could still call in july 2013 to book my home resort for june 2014 with borrowed pts from my 2015 UY.

a dec UY is just weird in that a vacation in june 2014 is actually taking place in your dec 2013 UY. but again, UY has nothing to do with the booking window.

 

[blondietink]

Agreed. You can book your vacation 11 months out at your home resort, or 7 months out at another resort no matter what your use year. The only thing you have to be mindful of is if you want to bank points. For example, we have a September use year. I have until April 30th to bank any or all of my points for my current September use year.