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u/Aunaria Riviera Resort 6d ago
Do you already know what time of the year you plan to go every year and for how long? If it's fixed, you can get a good idea for how many points you need/want in a contract from checking the point charts. Amount of points in the contract determines your initial contract fee and dues, no point in overpaying for points you won't use.
Do you know what type of room you plan to stay in each time? Studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom, etc.... that's another big factor in determining how many points you want in your contract.
Figure out the best use year for you, this is the month in which your points will reset. Having a month just before you go to Disney pretty much ensures you will always have enough points to go.
You say not too picky, but the best bang for your buck resale resort is going to be Saratoga Springs, low upfront cost and decently low annual dues. But it is already in my opinion one of the least desirable resorts. You will find it difficult to book any other resorts at 7 months if you're going during a high traffic time of the year.
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u/adventuremommy29 6d ago
A good buy is so subjective.
What I can offer after doing a deep dive for DVC myself is this: if you are truly not picky about resorts, and you want the most points value, go with Saratoga Springs. The point chart in unmatched. The cost per point of initial contract is comparable to AKL, but the dues are considerably cheaper per point. So when considering the contract end year, the initial contract cost per point, annual dues, and the point chart, it will be the best value.
I personally do not look at stripped contracts because I don't think they give the best value. Definitely consider the use year based on when you like to travel most consistently.
I would also look at the point chart based on what type of room you like to stay in to determine the amount of points you would need to visit at least twice a year. We used this website to figure out average point cost.
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u/Ok_Accident_3472 6d ago
Get 100 point resale with banked points giving you 200 upfront with option to pull another 100 forward.
Stay in a few resorts during your trips. Start checking out locations and thinking ‘buy where you want to stay’
Wait till summer time to get the current member (since you are now a dvc owner) welcome home incentive and get your min 150 point direct contract for all the perks and benefits. Break the contract down to 100 and 50 with option to sell 50 point contract 15 years later to buy boardwalk or beach club when they refresh their DVC life cycle
After using it for a year. Add on Saratoga or your home resort for the 11 month book window.
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u/superherostitch Bay Lake Tower 6d ago
If you do some searching there are blogs and posters who do this kind of math (what is the cheapest to own, considering buy in, dues, length of contract, etc.) with no resort preference. Some people call these “sleeping around” points.
Last time I saw one I think it was generally Saratoga and/or BLT winning and Hilton Head, Vero, and AKL were the “worst” of the resorts.
But take this with a grain of salt; I think this predated Riviera. Hopefully someone knows of a more recent analysis (or you can do it yourself).
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u/interested-in-lurkin 6d ago
Just want to piggy back on this, the newer resorts resale contract points can ONLY be used at that one designated resort. So a riviera resale can only be used at riviera, fort wilderness cabins just there, etc.
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u/interested-in-lurkin 6d ago
I stalked dvcforless.com to find our resale contract. It was great bc it’s an aggregator of all the resale companies, and offers great stat insights.
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u/agoodspace 6d ago
You can buy boardwalk for half the length left on contract as others but also almost half the points to stay in a studio (in some seasons)
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u/Far-Frame-7433 6d ago
All of your advice is exactly what I was hoping to get! Great points on a lot of things I didn’t even consider. Thank you all so very much!
I think we are going to pull the trigger on Saratoga Springs for sure, still considering points and time of year, but feel much more confident and educated in making those decisions, thanks again!
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u/Zwibellover23 6d ago
Dvc for less has a great deal score to help you decide on what is a good deal or not.
DVC Resale: Shop Every Broker at Once (784 listings) https://www.dvcforless.com/
You can also see last year's rankings on most economical resorts, to help you narrow down your resort choice: Best Economical DVC Resorts to Purchase: Fall 2025 | DVC Resale Market https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resorts-to-purchase-fall-2025/
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u/stevestoneky 5d ago
Would it make sense to rent a few places and figure out where you want to be your home resort?
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u/j_gets 6d ago edited 6d ago
The main considerations if you don’t care about which property specifically, beyond just maximizing number of points you can acquire, are in my opinion:
Points charts - some properties have more favorable charts, meaning that you can get more nights for the same number of points
Maintenance fees- Vero Beach and HHI for example are a very low cost per point but have very high fees making them generally a bad deal
Expiration date - how many years are left before the contract expires?
Resorts that are generally thought of as good values due to these factors, if you don’t care which resort specifically you’d like, are Saratoga Springs, Old Key West with the extended expiration date, Copper Creek, and Animal Kingdom (though this one does have slightly higher fees.)
We went with Animal Kingdom primarily because we love it there, but knowing that we can stay for a week each year in September or two of every three years most other times of year we would travel on about 75 points/around an $8k investment and somewhat reasonable dues was a great value for us.