What is WRONG with THAT Disney Vacation Club?

Over the 21 years I’ve been handling resales of all the Disney Vacation Club properties, it fascinates me how we, as a society, have a tough time trusting in a good thing.  I can’t tell you how many times a new client who has just discovered resales asks, “What’s the catch?”  or “It sounds too good to be true, what’s wrong with it?”

Just last week, a client called and she was basically sold on a property, the amount of points and the price of a property, but she just couldn’t commit to buying it.  The price was “too good.”  She kept asking questions (in a not so subtle, round about way, of course) as if at any moment I was going to slip up and reveal that it was a “broken” resale and only she would be silly enough to agree to such a scam.   The truth of the matter was that the seller really needed the money and had discounted it accordingly.  She didn’t buy it.  Two days later, it sold to someone else.  She (of course) called the following day completely upset that she didn’t take it while she could have…and to please call her if it fell through for any reason.  Why didn’t she trust me and the resale process the first time?  Human nature, I suppose.

The Evolution of Reselling

I’ve been reselling the Disney Vacation Club since getting licensed in December of 1997.  Back then, people barely knew what a resale was and the timeshare industry had the absolute worst reputation.  I even hesitated to get involved, even though both my parents had been in the industry for decades.  Interestingly enough, Disney always did it right.  Even on the resale market.

Back then, the original purchasers got park tickets…yes, I said park tickets…and they were transferable to a new owner!  That lasted until 2000, if my memory serves correct (I’m sure some old timers will correct me in the comments if I’m wrong).  After that though, all perks and privileges remained the same for years!  Regardless, convincing a new client of that required sending all kinds of documentation, as well as swearing on our unborn children.

The Humanity Side of Resales

Once convinced it was a legitimate real-estate transaction, people fell in love with the DVC and they loved helping a seller.  “Wait, did you say, helping a seller?”  Yes, I did.  What a lot of people forget is that someone selling their property generally isn’t doing it to make a profit.  I call it the three D’s:

1. Downsizing
2. Divorce
3. (Sadly) Death

Plenty of other reasons exist, but at the other end of the transaction lies another human being who for whatever reason, needs the money.

Naysayers

Lately, I keep seeing people on social media exclaim, “Be careful with resales! You don’t get all the perks.” Often, the people doing the exclaiming just paid full price from Disney directly and don’t want the associated shame of not doing a little bit of homework to find out they could have saved thousands of dollars if they had just taken a deep breath before signing those documents. Who can blame them?  Disney does a magnificent job of selling their product and they have a trusted name.  Without them, resales wouldn’t exist.  The chicken has to come before the egg, or is it the other way around?  Nevertheless, once they realize they missed the savings, it’s too late to back pedal.  Sadly, it’s much easier to live with oneself and the loss of thousands of dollars by criticizing the alternative.

Are there differences in buying resale versus direct?  Absolutely. Things changed in 2011 and 2016.  Are they worth the savings of thousands upon thousands of dollars?  I’m not going to answer that question, because if you’ve read this far, you already know the answer.

Direct Buyers Eventually Become Sellers…

So, what happens when that same person exclaiming, “Be careful of resales!” loses their spouse and suddenly finds themselves needing to sell their beloved property to pay for unexpected expenses?  They come to us. We help them; we don’t judge them.  And we spend our time explaining to the new buyer that there is “Nothing wrong with this DVC resale property, it’s just a widow who needs the money more than the property.  Not to mention they don’t want to go back to Disney without their other half right now.” We explain we are licensed real estate agents, we have been handling resales for 21 years, yes…it is a REAL thing, and even though Disney has the right of first refusal and only buys back around 5% of all them, truly, there is nothing “wrong” with that Disney Vacation Club resale.

If you have bought or sold on the resale market, we would love to hear about your experience below!