Question : Buy some now, more later ???

[Disney_Barbie]

Oh, please get my knowledge up-to-speed on how this would work : If one were to purchase a minimal amount of points now, resale ( say for example 25-50, just enough to scrape by a vaca every 2-3 years since we think DVC would be a great savings, but not if we have to finance and pay interest. So we'd only want to buy what we could presently pay for in cash, but would like to start our membership sooner rather than later). Then wanted to later buy more points?

Please give details of buying additional points both resale & direct from disney

If for example we were to buy resale 50 points w/ BCV as the home resort & 5 years down the road wanted to buy 100 more (resale again) say in the WLV. I understand that my renewed points would be awarded individually 2 different times thru-out the year, but would they be lumped into 1 account, or would I have to make a transfer every year to combine my 2 sets of points???
And are they both my home resorts... how does that work?
And what (if anything) changes if I bought my "extra" points direct from disney for which ever (if any) DVC resort they were selling @ the time?

Or, would it seriously less-complicate things if I limit my second purchase to the same resort that I end up getting my first purchase thru?

I know tons of you have several different home resorts, so it (hopefully) must not be as confusing as I'm making it out to be. Sorry for the million questions, am I the only one that finds DVC confusing?!? I've been reading up on it for over a year now, and still have a million questions.

[FiggyFan]

If you can find a 25-50 point resale, go ahead and buy it. Small contracts seems to show up on resale boards much less often than larger contracts.

Once you buy, direct or resale, you will be registered with DVC and receive a DVC member card. By all accounts, Disney treats members who joined via resale the same as those who buy direct from Disney.

The most important thing to keep in mind about buying additional points is the "use year" of the points. If you always buy the same use year, you will have one membership, i.e one "account" with DVC. If you have different use years, you have more than one membership, and coordinating points gets much more difficult. To use points from two memberships on the same trip, you would have two choices:
1) Make separate reservations from each membership that "fit together" to make a complete trip.
2) Transfer points from one membership to another. This option is limited (I think to once a year), and also has implications when it comes to banking and borrowing.

We own points at two different resorts, same use year, and manage them just fine on a single membership.

Regarding home resort issues, think of it this way - you do not have a home resort, your points do! For example, we own BCV and BWV. If I want to make a reservation at BCV at 11 months, I can only use BCV points to do it. If I need to use BWV points at BCV, I have to wait until the 7 month window opens.

Regarding the purchase process for an add-on:

1) DVC prohibits members from "breaking up" a block of points that were purchased as a single contract. If I purchased 200 points from Disney as a single purchase, I can't sell 50 of them and keep the rest. That is why small resales are less common - they must have originally been add-on purchases from Disney. Disney also has Right of First Refusal (ROFR) on any resale transaction. In other words, when you make a deal to buy a resale contract, Disney has the right to demand that the owner sell to them for the same price instead. This can delay a resale purchase a bit while Disney makes their decision.

2) Disney will sell you any number of points you want as an add-on, with two restrictions: a 25 point minimum purchase, and a 50 point minimum if you want Disney financing. Disney will also sell you points at a resort that is "sold out" if they have purchased resale points via ROFR. You will sometimes have to go onto a wait list to get the exact resort/use year you want.

I know there is a lot to learn, but after a while you learn the ropes and it starts to become easier. Don't hesitate to ask if you are not sure about anything.