Questions on UY & buying resale from a DVC newbie

[cncm]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at buying DVC now that we have kids as I'd like to stay in bigger suites. Have done a lot of research but still have a few questions. Would love to hear your experience/recommendations.

1) Use Year: I understand the importance of UY, where I'm struggling is because my daughter is so little (just turned 1), we're pretty flexible on when we can take our Disney vacation. But obviously that may change going forward, especially once she starts school. Should I be aiming for Aug UY so that in the future it will make booking summer vacations easier?

2) How many points: We're pretty sure we want to buy BLT given its proximity to MK. That's approximately 175-200 points for a 6 night stay in a 1br depending on time of year. But again, it's hard to anticipate how our needs might change throughout time given my kids won't be little forever and maybe some day we'll want to stay at another resort. Or some years we'll need a 2br if we go with grandparents. How do you balance all that in deciding how many points to buy? If we base our decision on 1br at BLT, what happens if we need a 2br some years? I'm assuming doing a split stay (using points for one part and probably renting more points for the 2nd part) will be the easiest solution?

3) Buying resale: given the savings, we're pretty set on doing this via the resale route. I understand we won't get the member benefits which is fine (we have FL residency so can get discounts on tickets/AP that way). We're also not that interested in the newer resorts. When buying resale, is it standard to negotiate on price/closing costs/etc when making an offer or is it more standard to take the list price? And if I negotiate, am I just increasing the likelihood of Disney exercising its ROFR?

Would love to hear your thoughts/advice, especially how I should navigate potential future changes to travel needs/patterns when buying my first contract.

Thanks!

 

[pianomanzano]

An Aug UY wouldn't be good for booking summer vacations. Banking can only occur within the first 8 months of the UY, so a trip anytime in the summer wouldn't be able to be banked if cancelled. My wife and daughter's birthdays are in the fall, so we have a June UY to have flexibility as we're likely to go then.

We originally planned out our needs based on how many days we wanted to stay in a studio during the time of year we wanted to go. Our first trip was in a 2BR (we started with a loaded resale contract) to bring grandparents along. Afterwards we stayed in a studio with our 15 month old (at the time) and we hated it. Our little one is a very light sleeper, so it was lights out when it was her bedtime. We have since added on more points to have 1BR stays, which we plan to do until our second daughter (coming any day now!) can sleep in a bed, and may transition back to studios to point stretch. I say may because it's easy to get spoiled by 1BR with the washer/dryer, full kitchen--especially when trying to make some healthy meals for little ones--and the overall space! It felt great staying in a 1BR during our past trip being able to stay up/lounge/relax in the living room after putting our daughter to bed. So I'd say initially buy enough points for what you think you'll need for at least a 1BR. In terms of balancing the need for bigger rooms, you'll just have to track points and manage them appropriately (and don't be afraid to bank/borrow as necessary). For instance, if you know you want to bring grandparents a certain year, you may want to go during low points seasons like September to ease the burden of using extra points.

Negotiating any and all of those are pretty standard (including negotiating on who pays the dues). Adjusting any of those levers can increase/decrease the likelihood of getting ROFR'ed, unfortunately no one knows how the drunken monkey in the ROFR office will exactly respond. The ROFR thread is a great source to see what kind of price per point they are taking.

Hope this helps!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

1/ August UY isn’t great for summer vacations. June is better assuming school ends in June? This also gives you coverage for the December holidays.

2/ You buy based on what you need and can afford now. You can always get more points, rent from someone else (or a point transfer), skip one year in order to bank points for a bigger stay, go during a lower point requirement period, shorten number of days, stay at a cheaper resort point wise, or some combination thereof. DVC is pretty flexible if you aren’t buying Riviera resale.

3/ You can definitely negotiate. No one knows why some contracts pass and some get taken in ROFR. I wouldn’t let that drive your decision of what to offer. Just need to be more patient with resale.

Some people are irrational about wanting the buyer to pay for points that they’re getting while being willing to drop the price per point. I’d personally offer to pay dues on points I get to use (think of timing of when it’s likely to close, you may find some banked points quickly expire and may be worthless anyways) and negotiate closing costs or price per point. The total $ outlay is what you want to consider. I’m less fussed about the breakdown of what is price per point vs dues vs closing costs since I buy these for personal use. Maybe if I was renting out the initial points and paying tax, I might want to allocate more to dues in the first year. (This is not tax advice in any way shape or form for you, since I know nothing about Florida or US tax rules.)

 

[sndral]

Here’s the Dis ROFR thread which I found to be helpful w/ resale purchasing, the first page gives you fellow disboard poster’s current accepted offers prices, the following pages are helpful regarding the resale experience IMO https://www.disboards.com/threads/r...ost-for-instructions-formatting-tool.3888303/
Also, there are over a dozen resale brokers & inventory has been rising, so deals should be out there if you have the time & are ok w/ trying again if DVC takes your contract via ROFR. This article is from March so a bit dated, but the links show current inventory. https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/fin...yback-interest-at-2042-resorts-remains-strong

 

[Stargazer65]

I'd probably go for April or June UY based on what you say. I've had BLT in June UY for 12 years, travel all year round even in spring, and it's worked well for me. So it's not like you're stuck only travelling in the summer, it's just that June UY is best used in the June to December timeframe.

I'd recommend getting points on the low side of what you think, and add more later if you want. We actually made do with a crazy low amount of points for many years before we added on. 175 to 200 is probably reasonable, you could get a smaller contract say 150 and add on later if you need, if you want to be more conservative.

You can negotiate anything you want, or offer what is being asked. It is up to you. ROFR is constantly changing, but right now it seems like Disney is taking every contract below 170 give or take. If you happen to find a contract with an international seller, that is ideal because it seems as though Disney never takes them.

 

[skippytx]

I was in a similar situation, and ended up with a Feb UY (covers spring break and summer), and 185 BLT points. That gets me a 2 bedroom for 7-8 nights every other year, or a studio for at least a week. 1 bedrooms are a ton of points, so it would only get me like 4 nights in a 1 bedroom a year.

 

[RoseGold]

The cool thing about resale is it's not like you're buying for forever. You change your mind, you sell. You need more, you buy another. Heck, if direct starts to matter, sell and buy direct.

Right now, it is a buyer's market. There's a lot on the market and a lot of uncertainty. You absolutely negotiate on resale, it's expected, like listing a house. When things aren't this crazy, yes contracts go for listing price. Maybe it does get ROFR. You do it again.

I have a Feb UY and it works well for this, and also for the spring, which might work for you as well. If you're more leaning summer or fall, then go more like June. You can't span UY with a reservation, so if your school gets out at the end of May, a June UY will not work for you.

 

[cncm]

An Aug UY wouldn't be good for booking summer vacations. Banking can only occur within the first 8 months of the UY, so a trip anytime in the summer wouldn't be able to be banked if cancelled. My wife and daughter's birthdays are in the fall, so we have a June UY to have flexibility as we're likely to go then.

We originally planned out our needs based on how many days we wanted to stay in a studio during the time of year we wanted to go. Our first trip was in a 2BR (we started with a loaded resale contract) to bring grandparents along. Afterwards we stayed in a studio with our 15 month old (at the time) and we hated it. Our little one is a very light sleeper, so it was lights out when it was her bedtime. We have since added on more points to have 1BR stays, which we plan to do until our second daughter (coming any day now!) can sleep in a bed, and may transition back to studios to point stretch. I say may because it's easy to get spoiled by 1BR with the washer/dryer, full kitchen--especially when trying to make some healthy meals for little ones--and the overall space! It felt great staying in a 1BR during our past trip being able to stay up/lounge/relax in the living room after putting our daughter to bed. So I'd say initially buy enough points for what you think you'll need for at least a 1BR. In terms of balancing the need for bigger rooms, you'll just have to track points and manage them appropriately (and don't be afraid to bank/borrow as necessary). For instance, if you know you want to bring grandparents a certain year, you may want to go during low points seasons like September to ease the burden of using extra points.

Negotiating any and all of those are pretty standard (including negotiating on who pays the dues). Adjusting any of those levers can increase/decrease the likelihood of getting ROFR'ed, unfortunately no one knows how the drunken monkey in the ROFR office will exactly respond. The ROFR thread is a great source to see what kind of price per point they are taking.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for your perspective - having a separate room for my daughter to sleep in is exactly the reason we want to get a 1br suite. We want to still be able to hang out after she goes to bed. And having a washer/dryer in unit would be pretty nice too.

 

[cncm]

I was in a similar situation, and ended up with a Feb UY (covers spring break and summer), and 185 BLT points. That gets me a 2 bedroom for 7-8 nights every other year, or a studio for at least a week. 1 bedrooms are a ton of points, so it would only get me like 4 nights in a 1 bedroom a year.

Yea 1br is expensive but I think I'm okay staying fewer nights in a 1br vs. more nights in a studio. My daughter is still very young right now so we're just aiming for 4-5 days for now. Good point about Feb UY covering both spring break and summer...Feb is also more common for whatever reason on the resale market right now

 

[cncm]

The cool thing about resale is it's not like you're buying for forever. You change your mind, you sell. You need more, you buy another. Heck, if direct starts to matter, sell and buy direct.

Right now, it is a buyer's market. There's a lot on the market and a lot of uncertainty. You absolutely negotiate on resale, it's expected, like listing a house. When things aren't this crazy, yes contracts go for listing price. Maybe it does get ROFR. You do it again.

I have a Feb UY and it works well for this, and also for the spring, which might work for you as well. If you're more leaning summer or fall, then go more like June. You can't span UY with a reservation, so if your school gets out at the end of May, a June UY will not work for you.

Gotcha, thanks...I think after reading everyone's comments, I'm going to go for Feb UY for the reasons you mentioned.

I keep reading it's a buyer's market...makes me wonder if prices might come down if I wait a bit longer?

 

[achinforsomebacon]

We went with June since we typically travel in August...then we also started going over spring break, which isn't ideal with June. In hindsight, February probably would've been better for us for the past few years, but who knows going forward. We've managed with June without any major issues.

The good thing with February and BLT is it's the most popular year so it should be easier finding what you need (and eventually adding on when that inevitably happens). This is a little dated but shows the popularity of each year:


source: https://dvcnews.com/dvc-program/own...ty-of-disney-vacation-club-points-by-use-year

 

[Heroes_or_Villains]

Gotcha, thanks...I think after reading everyone's comments, I'm going to go for Feb UY for the reasons you mentioned.

I keep reading it's a buyer's market...makes me wonder if prices might come down if I wait a bit longer?

As a previous poster mentioned, definitely take a look at the other disboard thread that details all of the ROFR status and current pricing.

I found it super helpful when making the decision on what price to offer. Given current market conditions, I do expect prices will come down a bit further but the reason I submitted my offer last week vs waiting another couple months was that I felt that the "risk" associated with paying slightly higher than what I could pay in a couple months is offset by the guarantee that I'm going to lock in a contract I really want. It was worth the risk that I might be paying several hundred to a couple thousand dollars more than if I waited a couple more months because I found the ideal contract that was the correct use year, number of points, and fully loaded.

 

[mjmjbelle1023]

I'd probably go for April or June UY based on what you say. I've had BLT in June UY for 12 years, travel all year round even in spring, and it's worked well for me. So it's not like you're stuck only travelling in the summer, it's just that June UY is best used in the June to December timeframe.

I'd recommend getting points on the low side of what you think, and add more later if you want. We actually made do with a crazy low amount of points for many years before we added on. 175 to 200 is probably reasonable, you could get a smaller contract say 150 and add on later if you need, if you want to be more conservative.

You can negotiate anything you want, or offer what is being asked. It is up to you. ROFR is constantly changing, but right now it seems like Disney is taking every contract below 170 give or take. If you happen to find a contract with an international seller, that is ideal because it seems as though Disney never takes them.

Hello - found your comment in a search. Could you elaborate on your comment "June UY is best used in the June to Dec timeframe" feel free to message me if that's ok!

 

[Mikey15]

Hello - found your comment in a search. Could you elaborate on your comment "June UY is best used in the June to Dec timeframe" feel free to message me if that's ok!

In short, where use year matters most is your banking deadline. You need to know by January 31 (banking deadline for June UY) whether you're going to use your points in that use year (ending May 31), or if you'll want to bank them.

If you usually travel or plan to travel in the second half of the year (summer, fall, through Christmas) then June UY is great because you'll know by January whether you've used all the points you're going to use that year or not.

 

[mjmjbelle1023]

In short, where use year matters most is your banking deadline. You need to know by January 31 (banking deadline for June UY) whether you're going to use your points in that use year (ending May 31), or if you'll want to bank them.

If you usually travel or plan to travel in the second half of the year (summer, fall, through Christmas) then June UY is great because you'll know by January whether you've used all the points you're going to use that year or not.

Still confused, BUT yes our preferred travel time is Nov/Dec and will have to become end of August until 2029 once our kids graduate HS. Then we can go back to Nov/Dec

 

[Mikey15]

Still confused, BUT yes our preferred travel time is Nov/Dec and will have to become end of August until 2029 once our kids graduate HS. Then we can go back to Nov/Dec

Either June or August UYs would give you the most flexibility then.

I'll give an example. You have an August UY at Animal Kingdom Villas. You can right now book a November AKV stay using your 2023 points, because you're within your 11mo booking window. If you end up canceling that reservation, because you change your mind, family circumstances change, whatever, you have until Mar 31 of 2024 to decide if you're going to bank those points to the 2024 year, or if you'll try to use them before July 31, 2024 when your Use Year ends. Since you're probably not traveling in July, you'd Bank those points to the 2024 Use Year.

Then, you make up your mind and want a 1 bedroom at BLT for the end of August 2024. It's a little more points than your AKV contract, but that's fine because you banked your 2023 points from the trip you didn't go on. At the end of January 2024 (7 months prior to check-in for your end of August trip) you can use the 2023 points you banked, and your 2024 points to book your end of August BLT stay.

 

[mjmjbelle1023]

Either June or August UYs would give you the most flexibility then.

I'll give an example. You have an August UY at Animal Kingdom Villas. You can right now book a November AKV stay using your 2023 points, because you're within your 11mo booking window. If you end up canceling that reservation, because you change your mind, family circumstances change, whatever, you have until Mar 31 of 2024 to decide if you're going to bank those points to the 2024 year, or if you'll try to use them before July 31, 2024 when your Use Year ends. Since you're probably not traveling in July, you'd Bank those points to the 2024 Use Year.

Then, you make up your mind and want a 1 bedroom at BLT for the end of August 2024. It's a little more points than your AKV contract, but that's fine because you banked your 2023 points from the trip you didn't go on. At the end of January 2024 (7 months prior to check-in for your end of August trip) you can use the 2023 points you banked, and your 2024 points to book your end of August BLT stay.

thank you, this is what I keep reading for Aug or Nov/Dec travel!