What Happens to Your DVC Points When You Sell Your Contract?

One of the first questions sellers ask us is a simple one: what happens to my DVC points when I sell? It's a fair question, and the answer has real consequences for your sale price, how quickly you find a buyer, and what the new owner can do with the contract starting on day one. The short version is that your points don't go away. They transfer with the contract, for better or worse, and the details matter more than most sellers realize before they start the process.

The Difference Between a Loaded and a Stripped Contract

In the resale market, buyers and brokers use two informal terms to describe the point status of a contract: loaded and stripped. Understanding the difference is the most important thing a seller can do before deciding when to list.

A loaded contract includes the current use year's full allocation of points, and may also include points that were banked from a prior year. A buyer purchasing a loaded contract can often book a trip within days of the transfer completing. That immediate usability has real value, and the resale market reflects it. Loaded contracts tend to sell faster and at a better per-point price than their stripped counterparts.

A stripped contract is one where the seller has already used this use year's points. The contract still has value, but the buyer is effectively waiting until the next use year begins before they have a full allocation to work with. That wait can be a few months or nearly a full year, depending on the use year. Buyers factor this into their offers, which typically means a lower price per point for stripped contracts.

We get asked often whether sellers should try to use their points before listing or save them for the buyer. It depends on your use year and your timing. If you're close to the end of your use year and your points are about to expire anyway, using them before you list makes sense. But if you have months of points sitting available and you list now, including those points with the contract generally results in a faster sale at a better price. It's one of the factors worth thinking through before you go to market. Our DVC resale value calculator can give you a sense of where your contract stands relative to current market conditions.

Banked Points, Borrowed Points, and What Transfers

DVC points don't exist in only two states. At any given moment, your contract may have points in several categories: current use year points, banked points from a prior use year, and potentially borrowed points pulled forward from next year's allocation. Each of these transfers with the contract, and each is treated differently in the transaction.

Points you banked from a prior year are fully usable by the buyer. If you banked 200 points last use year and those points are sitting in your account, they go with the contract. That's a positive for the buyer and typically reflected in the price. Banking is only possible before the banking deadline, which is 8 months after your use year start date. If you're approaching that deadline and considering selling, it's worth a conversation about whether banking first makes sense for your situation.

Points borrowed from next year's allocation are a different matter. When a seller borrows points, they're pulling from the future. Those borrowed points have already been used, which means the new owner starts with a deficit against the upcoming use year. A contract that shows 300 points available in the current year but has already borrowed 100 points from next year is not the same as a contract with 300 clean points and no deficit. Buyers understand this, and the purchase contract will reflect the actual available balance clearly.

The seller pays the price for borrowed points in the form of a pricing adjustment. If you've consumed next year's points, the buyer typically pays less per point, or the offer is structured to account for the deficit. These adjustments are standard in DVC resale transactions. Nothing is hidden, and nothing is left to chance. The purchase contract spells out the point balances, and Disney's estoppel certificate confirms them before closing.

How the Reimbursement Calculation Works

The point adjustments that show up in DVC contracts are not arbitrary. They follow a straightforward logic tied to annual dues. If a seller has consumed some of next year's points, the buyer is taking on a contract that starts with a deficit. To account for that, the purchase price is typically adjusted downward by an amount equal to the consumed points multiplied by the annual dues per point for the upcoming year. This is sometimes called a dues reimbursement, and it's a standard part of the negotiation.

Annual dues vary significantly by resort. To give you a real sense of the range: Grand Floridian dues are $8.31 per point for 2026, while Old Key West is $11.21, Animal Kingdom is $10.16, and Vero Beach is $14.89. If a seller at a high-dues resort has borrowed 100 points from next year, the buyer's financial exposure is meaningfully higher than it would be at a lower-dues resort. That difference shows up in offer prices.

On the other side, if a seller has banked additional points that will transfer with the contract, the buyer may pay a slight premium to reflect the extra usable points coming with the purchase. Both adjustments are negotiated at the offer stage. By the time you're at closing, the math is settled and agreed upon by both parties.

If you want a clear picture of what your specific contract might sell for given your current point status, our team can walk you through it. You can also browse current DVC resale listings to see how similar contracts are priced in the market right now.

The Disney Estoppel Certificate

One of the most important documents in any DVC resale transaction is the estoppel certificate issued by Disney. After a purchase contract is signed and the Right of First Refusal period has passed, Disney issues this certificate confirming the exact point balances on the contract as of the transfer date. It shows how many points are available in each category: current year, banked from prior years, and any deficit from borrowed points.

The estoppel process takes approximately two to three weeks after ROFR clears. It's not a formality. The estoppel is what makes the transfer official and accurate. There's no ambiguity about what the buyer is receiving, and the closing can't finalize until those numbers are confirmed. We've found this to be one of the things sellers appreciate most about a properly run resale transaction. No one is relying on a screenshot of a Disney account page or a seller's verbal description. The numbers come directly from Disney.

This is also why we tell sellers not to make any changes to their point balances after a contract is signed. Banking, borrowing, or making reservations that consume points after an offer is accepted can create complications at estoppel that delay or sometimes derail a closing. Once you're under contract, let the account sit.

Right of First Refusal: What It Means for Your Points

Disney has the right to step in and purchase any DVC resale contract at the same price and terms as the accepted offer. This is called Right of First Refusal, or ROFR. The review period is about 30 days after the signed contract is submitted to Disney.

When Disney exercises ROFR, nothing changes for the seller. You receive the same price, the same commission is deducted, and you walk away with the same net proceeds. Disney simply replaces the buyer. The only thing that changes is who ends up owning the contract. This sometimes surprises sellers who hear "Disney bought it back" and assume something went wrong. Nothing went wrong. You got exactly the deal you agreed to.

From a points perspective, Disney exercises ROFR on contracts they find attractive. Loaded contracts, particularly at popular resorts, sometimes draw ROFR attention. But even when that happens, the transaction closes on the same terms.

The Full Selling Timeline

Points are only part of the picture when you're planning a sale. The full timeline from listing to proceeds typically runs about 30 days. Finding a buyer usually takes 1 to 30 days for well-priced contracts. ROFR review is about 30 days. Closing takes roughly one week after ROFR clears. That's the realistic window sellers should plan around.

One practical implication of that timeline is that points can change status between listing and closing. If you list in January with a full complement of current-year points, and closing happens in March, the point picture at closing will reflect any activity in that window. We communicate clearly with sellers throughout the process so there are no surprises when the estoppel comes back.

Sellers sometimes ask whether they should use their banked points to take a trip while the contract is listed. You can, but it may affect buyer interest and your pricing, particularly if you have a large banked balance that was factoring into the contract's appeal. It's a conversation worth having before you book anything after you list.

For a full breakdown of what selling costs and how the proceeds are calculated, our cost to sell DVC page walks through every line item, including our 6.9% commission, the $150 Disney Estoppel Fee that sellers pay, and the $500 Disney Administration Fee that buyers cover separately.

What Sellers Often Get Wrong

The most common misconception we see is that sellers assume their points expire or disappear at closing. They don't. Every point in your account at the time of transfer goes with the contract. If you've been careful about banking points for years and have a substantial banked balance, that value transfers to the buyer and should be reflected in your asking price.

The second misconception is that stripped contracts don't sell. They do sell, at the right price. A stripped contract at a high-demand home resort can still move quickly if it's priced correctly. The market for DVC resale is active, and buyers have different priorities. Some buyers specifically seek stripped contracts because they have a lower upfront cost and the buyer doesn't have a pressing trip planned for the near term. The key is honest pricing that reflects the actual point status.

The third misconception is that borrowing points before selling to "use them up" before listing is a neutral decision. It's not. Borrowing from next year's allocation creates a deficit that the buyer inherits, and that deficit reduces what buyers are willing to pay. Using points is fine. Borrowing future points shortly before listing typically costs you more than it saves.

None of this is meant to be discouraging. DVC contracts sell regularly and cleanly when the point balances are disclosed accurately, the price reflects the true situation, and the transaction is managed by people who know the process. The families we work with who go into a sale understanding how points transfer tend to have much smoother experiences than those who are surprised by the details at closing.

If you have questions about your specific contract's point status and how it might affect your sale, call us at (407) 205-1435. If you are new to the process, our how DVC works guide covers the basics of use years, banking, and borrowing. We're happy to look at your situation and give you a straightforward answer about what to expect.