Advice appreciated - looking to buy resale at SSR

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caj

I can only answer part of this ... use years matter for when you want to use your 7 or 11 month windows - if you are tied to it. So if you buy an oct use year, for example, but intend to travel August, IF for any reason your holiday doesn't go ahead you haven't got much wriggle room to replan or rent points. Your oct use year could make it harder to get the elusive Christmas points at premium resorts at 7 months out as others will have booked in Jan for home resort and May/June for other resorts.

You can add 25 points to your booking from Disney if you a a few short. Or rent a few extra often.

Hopefully we will never get covid times again, but you may want to consider what happens IF your children want to go to somewhere else? Shock horror. Will you go just the two of you? (I was dvc with my ex, and I got to the point I'd been 'enough' . Had a break and went back with DH ... Still love the place, but would also like to go to other places too!). If you don't go you still have dues to pay.

Re purchase, I think we did it all online / post to buy. To transfer points just to ex we needed a specific person to witness it, so had to hunt one out. We never had an American bank account.

Stripped contracts are ones where they have had a blow out holiday and borrowed next year's points already. So you'd be liable for dues with no points to show for it! Just watch those!

See more...

Yes I had thought about the need to cancel a holiday at short notice and then missing out on the banking window. I suppose I'm hoping there won't be anymore pandemics down the road...

In terms of travelling elsewhere the answer to that is yes, my DH, my kids, myself all want to travel elsewhere and we have been fortunate enough to take two holidays a year with an October half term trip to somewhere other than Florida. I foresee this continuing even if we buy DVC.

I think DH would prefer wdw is limited to every other year, hence my idea to buy 150 points potentially giving us 300 to use in a Disney year. But, who knows? It's very hard to predict the future.

I have looked at the cost of dues. Some of the resale contracts have the dues paid by the seller if they have used all the points, definitely something to think about.

Thank you, it's not an easy decision to make.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by KarenG

Nothing to add to the excellent advice already given (and you’ve clearly thought it through already) but try, if you can, to imagine years ahead that may not suit your current holiday booking style and wishes as your family context changes

We planned our purchase when our kids were quite young and we’ve found that many of the assumptions we made about how we would use our points have not been correct as they’ve got older (and us, too). That said it’s so flexible we’ve been able to easily offset our annual dues (and then some) by renting, so we haven’t lost anything.

We bought our first DVC contract at SSR in 2003, sold in 2006 but then bought again at BLT in 2009 (I think it was!). I wouldn’t sell again but the way we use our points has changed so much I don’t know if I would have bought the points I did (hope that makes sense). But you can only make a decision based on what you know at the time, it’s just that the future is worth considering.

See more...

Thank you, predicting the future has got very difficult lately. It's interesting to read your experience. Like you say our future holidays may not look very much like our current holidays. Heck I hadn't even considered going to Jamaica and I certainly didn't think I'd like it as much as I did.

I suppose I know I want to go back now, will I want to go back every year for the next 10 years? That's difficult to answer and the best I can give is probably not. Which leads me back to is it right for us if I already know I likely won't want to return every year for 10 years?

Argh still thinking and over-thinking, but thank you I'm grateful for your thoughts.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caj

An additional thought ... you can leave points in your wills (not that I'm wishing anything bad to happen to you!).

See more...

Yes I've seen that, although the recipient would be liable to pay the dues as well. An SSR contract would take us to 2054, so I'd be 78 when that expired. If we buy but yes I have thought of that too.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by KarenG

Yes, always reserve at 11 months to secure a room. Yes, you can amend at seven months subject to availability

XE is a money transfer service.

One beds are LOVELY but as you say it’s space vs cost! We eke our points out by not checking into DVC the day we arrive (usually quite late if coming from UK); going to the beach / elsewhere for a few nights etc.

The parks are less and less appealing to me every year - never thought I’d say that!

See more...

Wash your mouth out with soap! Park are less appealing. LOL. But a good idea re getting the arrival day benefit at your resort and staying in a more budget friendly place elsewhere at lease on travel day, if not for more of the holiday.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Wash your mouth out with soap! Park are less appealing. LOL. But a good idea re getting the arrival day benefit at your resort and staying in a more budget friendly place elsewhere at lease on travel day, if not for more of the holiday.

See more...

Honestly I never thought I’d say that! But we have done them a lot over the last 20 years and while I like dipping in and out the costs now are quite high for dipping! We had several years where an AP and DVC provided us with three trips a year (give or take six / seven weeks) so I have only myself to blame!

I have not yet been to Disneyland as many times as I want to though

[Goldia]

Thank you all for the advice and things to think about.

This weekend we are going to decide which contract to make an offer on. I have a question about banked points and use by dates, hoping you can help me.

A 175 point contract with June use year means the points are allocated on 1st June and need to be used by 31st May, or banked by 31st January for use by 31st May in the following year? I believe this is correct.

OK, so a contract I have seen is for 175 points June use year. There are 102 points banked from June 20 and 175 in June 21 plus 175 coming in June 22 and so on. Do the 102 points have to be used by 31st May 2022? Meaning I couldn't use them in July/August 2022.

Having 278 points seemed like a great bonus first trip, but I can't see us being able to go before summer 2022, even without the covid situation.

Thank you

[caj]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Thank you all for the advice and things to think about.

This weekend we are going to decide which contract to make an offer on. I have a question about banked points and use by dates, hoping you can help me.

A 175 point contract with June use year means the points are allocated on 1st June and need to be used by 31st May, or banked by 31st January for use by 31st May in the following year? I believe this is correct.

OK, so a contract I have seen is for 175 points June use year. There are 102 points banked from June 20 and 175 in June 21 plus 175 coming in June 22 and so on. Do the 102 points have to be used by 31st May 2022? Meaning I couldn't use them in July/August 2022.

Having 278 points seemed like a great bonus first trip, but I can't see us being able to go before summer 2022, even without the covid situation.

Thank you

See more...

I think you're right .. you may have to rent those and use the ££ to buy extra cocktails?!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caj

I think you're right .. you may have to rent those and use the ££ to buy extra cocktails?!

See more...

Ha ha😅 good idea 🍹

Thanks x

[tmwalsh]

Hi Goldia, real interested to read how this all goes. Please keep it updated

[Kat11]

Hi Abby, I am following this process too as there seems to be a lot to learn and get my head around! 🤯 I’m not saying it’ll do it but you never know if you lead the way! 😊

Out of interest how much are dues? I presume they depend on the amount of points? But an idea of what the commitment would be a year once the initial points have been bought?

Kat