Can't really say. I suspect initially we would have bought CCV direct, but whether or not we would have then switched upon further examination of all the factors... I don't know. Certainly couldn't say for sure either way since it's not a decision I was faced with or took time to analyze.
And just to clarify for anyone making considerations who's read this far into the thread... Somewhere on this thread it was adopted that I opted to pay an extra $10k to buy direct. That's absolutely NOT the case.
Could I have spent $10k less and still gotten a 120-point contract? Well, yes. But at a resort like HH, VB or SS... none of which would make any sense for me to have as my home resort. And I'd be VERY unlikely to get full 2016 points in such a deal, so then I'd likely be paying out of pocket for my 2018 vacation. (Yes, I know I could borrow or use 2018 points, but we're already planning a big trip in 2019 that's going to need those points, so the plan is to bank our 2016 points to pay for the 2018 trip in its entirety.) So even then I'm not saving the full $10k.
As I pointed out earlier, with all factors taken into account, I probably paid about $1,500 extra to buy Poly direct instead of resale. So the bigger premium I'm paying is to have Poly as my home resort. Whether or not that's worth it is a larger discussion for a different thread, one that I imagine has been had countless times to this point, so I won't even debate it here.
For me, personally, the extra money spent for direct -- around $1,500 -- is worth it. Yes, technically it may not take that long to go through the actual clicking, signing and mailing of the resale process, but for the 30+ days it took from start to finish it is ALL I would think about, to the detriment of other aspects of my life that demand my attention. Call that a character flaw if you will, but I know myself too well at this point.
I am comfortable and confident with my decision, and the suggestions and advice here -- both friendly and "curmudgeonly" alike -- have helped me both scrutinize and solidify my stance.
I want to be careful with my comments here because I want to be clear that I am not questioning your motives or your decision. You've said that you are comfortable with your decision and I respect that. That being said, I am going to respectfully disagree with some of your assumptions, because I think they are skewed. That's fine if it's what you base you decision on, but I would hate to think that someone else comes along and reads your thoughts and uses it as a road map for their process.
The real advantage for owning at the Poly is the 11 month booking window on Lake View Studios. That's pretty much it. Standard view studios and Bungalows have great availability at the 7 month mark, which means that you don't need the home resort advantage for those rooms. You've also stated that you mostly travel in January in May, two lower demand times of the year for DVC. So, on an emotional level, on a satisfaction of ownership level, the Poly is the right home resort for you. But from a strict use standpoint, it is not the most
efficient path to ownership.
While your math is a bit fuzzy, you are essentially correct that the difference between a resale Poly purchase and a direct Poly Purchase is in the neighborhood of around $1,500. I would suggest that the range is $1,500-$4,000 depending on various factors. What you glance over is the fact that your next best alternative was not the Poly resale, it was SSR or BLT. These are two of the lowest long term cost resorts, and SSR offers a much lower entry cost and BLT offers you the safety of being on the monorail loop at the 11 month mark. Using these two resorts as a comparison, you actually did spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000-$10,000 more than you
could have. Not should have, but could have. That would have been the most efficient means of entry into DVC. However, it is NOT the path of entry that you were comfortable with. So I would just say that and leave it be. When you start to use the numbers to make your point, you're going to "lose" the discussion.
Here's an extreme example of what I'm talking about. I recently bought a 300 point DEC UY VB contract for $50 a point all in (maintenance fees and closing costs included). It came with all 2015 banked, 2016 current and 2017 points. I rented out all the points and my net cost of ownership was $11 per point. (I am aware of this being done enough times to consider this a statistically significant example...these contracts are out there). I don't use this as an example because there are a number of factors that makes this contract right for me but wrong for so many people. But despite the higher maintenance fees, the fact that it's off property, and the fact that it's a large contract and you want a small contract, I still win on the math every time. My cost of entry into DVC was $3,300 and at the 7 month window I can book every room that everyone else can.
One last thought, and this is not aimed specifically to anyone. I think that all in all both sides of this discussion have been respectful in sharing their thoughts and opinions, and most if not all are shared with the best of intentions. To refer to those who disagree as "curmudgeonly" is a little disrespectful. We're all here to help. You took a risk to put your thoughts out there, and others took a risk choosing to disagree.
You could have saved $7,000 buying BLT, which seems like it would have been a better fit for you.
I had a deal on a contract with 2015 points a couple months back. It's unfair to say "VERY unlikely" without reviewing actual data. There are many contracts available with full current points and several with banked points.
Yes, to be fair, while many contracts available are stripped, there are enough contracts available with upcoming points, current points, and/or banked points that the initial cost of ownership is significantly mitigated.
Bill
