resale, are other resorts available...

[MickeyfromSTL]

I have been thinking about purchasing a resale DVC contract. Looking into it on several of the links on this site, it appears the price per point between the different resorts is quite substantial.

With that in mind, it appears Vero Beach is the lowest prices/point with Either Hilton Head or Old Key west being the next least expensive.

If I would move forward I am planning to use my points virtually exclusive at Disney World in FL but Iam not particularly "married to" any particular resort.

I know that owners in a particular resort get the first chance to reserve their stay with other DVC members being held off for some time. Is it difficult to get reservations at a DVC resort that is not your home base or is that not to major of an issue assuming you are not going over the holidays or another particularly busy time?

If one can get the reservations most of the time you want away from your home base, I feel like you can get a much bigger bang for your buck, especially in the resale market, if you chose someplace like Vero Beach as your home.

Thanks for your thoughts,

 

[Hakunamatata]

The reason the three you mentioned are the cheapest is that they are the oldest and have the least amount of time left on the life of the contract. As for availability, DVC tends to be popular at different times than non DVC resorts so demand doesn't always run in normal cycles.

 

[Nero the dog]

If you don't mind where you end up staying, you can nearly always get something at OKW or Saratoga. If you want some of the smaller/more popular resorts you might have more problems at certain times of year.
I would buy at OKW and try to get one of the extended contracts. At least that way you can book accommodation at 11months then try to swop to another resort at 7 months.

 

[bubster]

If you have no interest in staying at VB don't buy there. No one else has mentioned this yet but MFs for Vero Beach have gone up to $8.06 per point for 2015, the highest dues in all of DVC. Your MFs over the years could completely overshadow your buy-in cost. In comparison BLT still has the lowest MFs at $5.05 per point.

If you want the best bang for your buck and aren't picky about where you stay at WDW consider SSR. Best combination of resale buy-in, MFs ($5.17) and length of contract.

 

[ParentsOf4]

DVC costs have 2 major components: purchase price and Maintenance Fee (MF). Both are typically expressed in dollars-per-point. I'll focus on just the East Coast DVCs, meaning those at WDW, Hilton Head Island (HHI), and Vero Beach (VB).

Purchase price is exactly that: How much did you pay to buy at a particular DVC resort? There are several factors that go into resale prices but location probably is the most important factor. Resorts closest to the theme parks tend to sell for the most. Size is another factor. Larger resorts tend to have more points available for resale so their prices tend to be lower. Then there are special circumstances such as Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club Villas (BCV). That plus its smaller size means BCV is more expensive on the resale market than the nearby Boardwalk Villas (BWV). Remaining years on the contract is less important. BCV and BWV both sell for more than Animal Kingdom Villas (AKV) and Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR) even though BCV and BWV contracts expire many years sooner.

Maintenance Fee is the amount DVC members pay Disney every year for hotel maintenance. The MF is set by Disney based on the changing costs of the hotel. VB has by far the highest MF ($8.06/point) while BLT has the lowest ($5.05/point). Over the history of DVC, MFs have averaged an annual increase of 3.2%, although some resorts have increased more than others. To date, BWV is the lowest at 2.7% annually, while BLT is the highest at 6.2% annually.

If price is important, be sure to consider both purchase price and MF. VB might cost less to buy now but each year you'll pay an extra $2-to-$3/point. Over time it adds up, and all resorts have at least 28 years to go.

Right now, SSR is probably the best combination of purchase price (selling for under $75/point) and MF ($5.17/point). However, SSR is the largest DVC and (by far) the easiest to book.

The general advice you'll hear is to buy where you most want to stay. This is called your Home Resort. You can book 11 months in advance at your Home Resort, 7 months everywhere else. I've stayed at every single WDW DVC resort but booking at 7 months can be a challenge for many resorts, especially for popular rooms or seasons.

Some rooms, such as the Club Level rooms at AKV or the Standard View Studios at BWV during Food & Wine Festival often are completely booked at 11 months. Studios at the small BCV can be difficult to book for a full week at 7 months. The resorts that tend to be the easiest to book at 7 months are the 3 largest: SSR, OKW, and AKV.

Again, the best advice is to buy where you most want to stay.

The other advice is to not finance your purchase for more than a few years. Really, the only reason to buy DVC is to save money, and then only if you really want Deluxe Resorts. If you are satisfied with Disney's Moderate Resorts or if you need to finance for more than a few years, a DVC purchase is not going to save you much, certainly not enough to justify spending $10,000 or more and tying yourself to what's essentially a timeshare.

If you prefer Disney's Deluxe Resorts, vacation at WDW on a regular basis and will do so for years in the future, and have the cash to pay the purchase price, then a DVC resale makes sense.

Hope this helps!

 

[GoofGoof]

Consider SSR if you don't really care where you are staying. As others have said, best combination of low buy-in price and lower fees.

Look at it this way. If fees increase at roughly the same pace at each resort VB fees are $3 per year more than SSR. After 10 years that's $30 per point. Even resale you can't find VB for more than $30 less than SSR.