Lots of Questions...3 families share and minimum pts on a resale purchase???

[ldc12377]

We just got back from WDW and now we are considering DVC, but now I have a BUNCH of questions!!!
First of all, can 3 families buy one DVC membership? Here's what I mean...My family(self,DH, DS,DD,&DS), my brother's family(him & DD), and my mom would each pay 1/3 of the cost and share the points. Is that O.K.?
Next big questions, Is there a minimum amount of pts you have to buy if you buy from some place like The Timeshare Store? I know that if you buy from Disney your first purchase has to be 160 pts. at least. Right now Mom is the only one with the cash on hand to buy pts., me and my brother will need a year to save up the money (we don't want to finance) Could mom go ahead a buy her pts (between 100 & 125) through a resale and then me and my brother just add our in a year or so. My brother and I plan to go every other year and take grandma will us on each trip until we have all our pts. bought and we can all go together.
Hope that all makes sense. Any help would be great!!!

[mprewitt]

If you buy resale, there is no minimum amount of points you must purchase. The smallest contract you might see would be 25 points. Theoretically, you could buy this and become a DVC member. Of course, 25 points won't get you much.

Buying into DVC is a real estate transaction. I don't have the answer to your first question about 3 families buying a single contract. You should ask DVC.

[Maleficent's Dad]

First of all, can 3 families buy one DVC membership? Here's what I mean...My family(self,DH, DS,DD,&DS), my brother's family(him & DD), and my mom would each pay 1/3 of the cost and share the points. Is that O.K.?
There would be some legal stuff to work out. If your husband's name is on the deed, he would be 1/4 owner, so in order for you to have a 1/3 ownership, the names on the deed would have to be your mom's, your brother's, and yours. Any other names = a partial ownership. Otherwise, YES, you can do this.

Next big questions, Is there a minimum amount of pts you have to buy if you buy from some place like The Timeshare Store? I know that if you buy from Disney your first purchase has to be 160 pts. at least. Right now Mom is the only one with the cash on hand to buy pts., me and my brother will need a year to save up the money (we don't want to finance) Could mom go ahead a buy her pts (between 100 & 125) through a resale and then me and my brother just add our in a year or so. My brother and I plan to go every other year and take grandma will us on each trip until we have all our pts. bought and we can all go together.
Again, a complicated question.
First off - yes, Disney direct = 160 points minimum.
Resale (through any resaler) = any amount of points.
Your mom COULD make a purchase through the TimeShare Store (or any other reputable DVC resaler) and put all three names on the title of ownership. By doing this, she's taking a risk by including both you and your brother (I only say this from a legal standpoint, I do not wish to insult). Although it's her money, she's including you and brother as owners of what she purchased.
Now, here's where it gets tricky.
Where do you want to own?
If your mom purchases, at, let's say BWV, that will be the "home" resort for that contract. If you and brother purchase at another resort, let's say SSR, then you'll have 2 home resorts. This has it's plusses and minuses and you'll hear arguments both for and against two home resorts. Long story of it is that if mom has 125 points at BWV, you have 100 at SSR, and brother has 100 at VWL, you have 3 different "home resorts" leaving you with some potential problems when making ressies.
Of course, you may want the three different resorts. Or you may all buy from the same resort. Either way, you'll have 3 different DVC contracts with all three names on each. (And that's not a bad thing!) Each purchase (of additional points on an existing contract) means a new contract. If your home resorts are the same, and YOUR USE YEARS are the same (you're buying resales), not a problem.
If your use years or resorts are different, you run into some complications.

All in all, everything you mentioned can be done. There will be some "kinks" to work out. Legalities and business transactions are rarely smooth when involving families!

I do hope yours works out well. :mickey:

Good luck - DVC is one of the best investments we've ever made as a family. It guarantees family vacations yearly! :thumbsup:

[CarolMN]

There are some real risks involved when more than one family owns a contract together.

1. If one family get into financial difficulties (bankruptcy, divorce), the contract will be in jeopardy. There have been cases reported where even though one party made all the payments, the contract had to be sold due to another party's divorce.

2. Even though you are family and get along very well, you'll need to clearly define who will make reservations, how you will divide/use the points, what to do with cancellations, reservation points, holding points, how to accomodate different point usages between member families, what happens to the contract if one family tires of Disney sooner than the others or dies, etc. How will you settle any disagreements? Even if you travel together - who gets the Master bedroom, who has to sleep on the sleep sofa, etc.

If it were me, I'd just have each family buy their own contract - you can buy less than Disney's minimum of 160 if you go through resale. Even though you each have a separate contract, you can still travel and stay together in the same unit if thats what you prefer to do. Things will just be a lot simpler if you don't have to share a single contract. People are funny about money (and DVC points, LOL)!

Good luck!