[2006] SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify/retro [MERGED]

YES..YOU CAN REQUALIFY/ Retro A SVO RESALE (voluntary OR mandatory) WITH FULL BENEFITS INCLUDING: 1)Exchange, 2) StarOptions, 3) StarPoints, and 4) Elite Status!

I had read the TUG svo advise and all the posts. These need to be updated with correct info. So, here is what I found out and got accomplished.

I found out that my calls to svo directly each time got differing answers. So, I asked the Sales Director of one of the resorts to READ ME THE POLICY. Here it is: SVO will requalify a resale purchase with membership in the SVN network if the owner makes a purchase directly from the developer. This is in the SVO policy manual. There is no specific requirement on what resort or what week or how much the developer purchase must be. As well, I found that there are specific forms the developer has to use to requalify the resale.

The idea here is that the developer wants to make a sale and if so they will requalify one of your resale weeks for each week purchased. They do not have to be the same Price, StarOption or StarPoint value.

I had purchased several resale weeks at a Voluntary resort. I then purchased the same number of weeks from the Developer. I had all my resale weeks "retro" as if I had purchased from the developer. My resale weeks now have StarOptions and can be exchanged, StarPoints for conversion, and I am in the Elite Program.

Here is the procedure I recommend:

1) You need to first make the resale purchase and then have it recorded by SVO. For Voluntary resorts this will NOT give you StarOptions, StarPoints, or Elite status. For Mandatory resorts this will only give you ability to exchange.

2) After SVO makes the entry you can check your ownership on MyStarCentral.com

3. Contact a salesperson at the resort you want to purchase from the developer. Make sure they agree that if you purchase from the developer they will "retro" your specific resale week with StarOptions, StarPoints, and Elite Status. DO NOT SIGN THE CONTRACT WITHOUT THIS AGREEMENT IN WRITING. It may be an addendum to your contract (not in my case) or, for me, they provide you with copies of the documents used by the original owner of the resale with your name to sign. See next...

4. The documents I was provided with were copies of the original 1)SVO Notification, 2) SVN Owner Membership Agreement, 3) StarPoints Disclosure Statement, 4) II Membership Application, and 5) SVN Elite Level Enrollment Form. Again, these forms are for the RESALE and were copies that had been signed by the original owner with MY name and old contract number inserted. You need to sign these at the same time as your Developer purchase.

I made my purchase over the phone and received the developer purchase documents in the mail. I waited to sign until I had the documents to requalify my resales. As well, the process was documented in e-mails.

I must say SVO, my salesperson, and the district manager had to approve the purchase and retro in advance. They were very helpful, friendly, and made the process easy.

If you think about it, it is in SVO's advantage to do this so that you will make another direct purchase.

I had a great salesperson who made this all happen. If you call and the saleperson can not get it done for you....call another. I do not recommend calling SVO as they are not the one making the new sale. Call a salesperson and find someone who has the time to help you.

Good luck and I hope this makes everyone look more positively at the value of Voluntary resales.

this was posted in a different thread on Oct 11th 2007 but I thought it should be here./Bill4728 moderator

posted by Vacationtime
The memo attached below purports to be Starwood's requalification / Retro procedure effective 6/15/07. I have no idea of its authenticity, but it does explain contradictory posts I have seen (and posted myself). According to this memo, a Hawaii or Caribbean purchase used to requalify another unit must be $40,000 $27,500 or more; a US Mainland or Mexico purchase of over $20,000 $15,000 (** see the next paragraph) is sufficient for that purpose.

Posted by Vistana101 & FredM Posted ON MARCH 2010

A couple things to know:
Starwood just lowered the Mainland price to $15,000 (from $20,000) to retro a resale.
They are trying to take away SP as incentives to buy
-----------------------
Starwood lowered the Hawaii retro qualifying price to $27,500, from $40,000, as well.

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STARWOOD VACATION OWNERSHIP Number: 01.07
Eff. Date: 6/15/07
Revision Date:


Resale Policy
Transfer of SVN/SPG with Resale VOI
All departments must adhere to the business rules of the Starwood Vacation Network to ensure that all owners are being treated equally.

Gift/Transfer VOI deed:
• Owners who wish to transfer a VOI with SVN/SPG “without consideration” to immediate family members may do so at no cost. SVO will monitor as needed.

SVN/SPG Transfer:
• Voluntary Resort - To maintain the value of the SVN as an incentive to purchase from SVO directly, Starwood Vacation Ownership will not allow the transfer or purchase of SVN or SPG benefits with the resale of a VOI at SVN voluntary resorts. Membership in the Starwood Vacation Network (SVN) or Vistana Plus (VTP) is a benefit unique to the individual ownership. Under the SVN Rules and the Owner Membership Agreement, a membership in SVN and or VTP and the Gold Level Membership in the Starwood Preferred Guest Program (SPG), along with access to the SPG Conversion Program, cannot be transferred to a resale purchaser.
• Mandatory Resort - At mandatory resorts, Starwood Vacation Network (SVN) membership must automatically transfer with ownership; however, access to SPG membership and ability to convert to Starpoints will be withheld. This means that the use of the SVN Resorts is available; however, under the SVN Rules and the Owner Membership Agreement, the Gold Level Membership in the Starwood Preferred Guest Program (SPG), along with access to the SPG Starpoints Conversion Program, cannot be transferred to a resale purchaser. Resale may only be enrolled into the SPG Program by SVO as Preferred level.

SVN/SPG Retro:
• SVN will enroll “resale” weeks into either SVN or VTP so long as the person owning the “resale” week purchases a new week of inventory directly from the developer.
• For each new SVO interval purchased at or greater than the minimum price ($20k for US mainland & Mexico projects; and $40k for Hawaii and Caribbean projects), SVO will “retro” one SVN eligible resale week on a one to one basis into SVN, including SPG membership at no cost (at the original resale SVN level for the resale week).
o If a new owner is purchasing a US mainland or Mexico VOI and wishes to retro one previously purchased eligible resale week into SVN/SPG, the new VOI purchase price must be at least $20k (regardless of the location the VOI is being purchased).
o If a new owner is purchasing a Caribbean or Hawaii VOI and wishes to retro one previously purchased eligible resale week into SVN/SPG, the new VOI purchase price must be at least $40k (regardless of the location the VOI is being purchased).
o Minimum purchase prices set are based on the product purchased NOT on the property from which they are purchased
o This is a one-for-one retro…for each resale week to be “retro’d”, a new developer VOI must be purchased (at or above the minimum purchase price)

Document reviewed on 10.2.07kp/yw


Robert

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So it looks like the best way to get value for your money is to buy a Hawaii and/or Caribbean TS resale and then requalify them with the developer purchase of ~$20K from a US mainland & Mexico resort. ( but IMHO, I'd always want to buy a Mandatory resort because of the much greater resale value)

Bill4728

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Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Congratulations, Duke! This is good to know. Buy one resale, one developer and if you do the right paperwork both can count as if you had purchased directly from SVO. It costs a little more than buying strictly resale but the Elite status and Starpoints can be valuable in my experience.

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Great information! Do you mind sharing the $$$ info. with us? I'd like to know what you paid and where you bought. Am I correct in understanding that you can only convert one resale week, per developer week?

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Do I need to buy the same size unit from the developer? I own a 2 bedroom Vistana Resort, are they still selling through the developer and does Vistana Villages qualify as the same resort?

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

do they have to be at the same resort....i.e resale desert oasis and develope desert oasis, or could it be resale desert oasis and developer kanaapali?

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

"There is no specific requirement on what resort or what week or how much the developer purchase must be"

Attempting to qualify a resale with benefits

Duke, thank you for such useful information. I just read your post the day before we planned to buy from the developer (I wish I had known earlier).

But, armed with your info, we made it a condition of the purchase that the salesperson would help us qualify a future resale week with benefits.
He seemed familiar with the process and said he would do his best to help us with the request. The only difficulty is that we didn't own the resale week at the time of purchase.

Now, I have purchased a resale week within 1 week of the developer purchase. Hopefully it will go through quickly so that they can make good on their promise.

Will keep you posted.

Edwin

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Can someone refer me to their salesperson who was familiar with the process so that I can move forward and purchase another unit and get my Vistana registered.

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Duke or Sunami.

Thanks Again.

Re: Attempting to qualify a resale with benefits

sunami said:

Duke, thank you for such useful information. I just read your post the day before we planned to buy from the developer (I wish I had known earlier).

But, armed with your info, we made it a condition of the purchase that the salesperson would help us qualify a future resale week with benefits.
He seemed familiar with the process and said he would do his best to help us with the request. The only difficulty is that we didn't own the resale week at the time of purchase.

Now, I have purchased a resale week within 1 week of the developer purchase. Hopefully it will go through quickly so that they can make good on their promise.

Will keep you posted.

Edwin

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Edwin:
You say you read my post the day before you made your purchase from the Developer. Since my post was just a couple of days ago you should still have time to RESCIND your Developer purchase. Here is why I recommend you immediately cancel your purchase.

1) It will take a couple of months for your escrow on the resale to close.
2) It will take up to a month for SVO to record your resale purchase into the SVO system.
3) Because the salesperson said they will try and help you have the resale requalified does not mean it can be done.

Please read my original post and follow the procedure exactly or your MAY not be able to get this done. Do not rely on what you are told. GET IT IN WRITING.

I congratulate you on your purchase and know you will enjoy the use but caution anyone on believing something can be done without having a written contract.

Duke

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

plead.5th said:

Can someone refer me to their salesperson who was familiar with the process so that I can move forward and purchase another unit and get my Vistana registered.

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Plead.5th:

PM me with your contact info and I will forward it to someone who would be glad to get this done.

Again, make sure you have the Resale purchase completed and recorded in advance.

Duke

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Duke,

I don't really know what a PM is but my email address is

robm325@msn.com

Thanks Again for the info and the contact.

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Duke,
Thanks for the advice. I did get it in writing in our contract that the salesperson would help convert the resale. We are moving quickly on closing escrow, should be closed within another week.
I realize it will take some time for SVO to record the transfer, I am hoping to speed it along as I read in another post that I can call the central office once the deed is recorded to alert them to the sale.

The salesperson I spoke with said to keep him posted along the way; like I said, I will let you know.

Edwin

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

For more info on Starwood Vacation Ownership -SVO and Starwood Vacation Network -SVN, read the TUG advice article on the TUG advice page LINK

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Seems this strategy has gotten the attention of SVO. They have recently issued a memo to salespersons: The policy is still in effect that the requalification of resales can be done, however you must purchase an Annual for each resale Annual. You can purchase an EOY for each resale EOY.
All the best!

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

Duke,

Nobody has contacted me yet.

YES - Qualified as a direct sale!

Just an update to all,
We finally got notification that our resale week was requalified as a direct sale, thus eligible for starpoints, 3* elite status and all the associated perks.

I have to agree with Duke that a resale should be purchased beforehand and recorded in the system, prior to buying from the developer. Though we were able to do it afterwards, it was touch and go for a while.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested in purchasing direct from WKORV-N, I can give you the name of our salesperson, who was instrumental at getting our resale qualified.

Ed

Re: YES - Qualified as a direct sale!

sunami said:

Just an update to all,
We finally got notification that our resale week was requalified as a direct sale, thus eligible for starpoints, 3* elite status and all the associated perks.

I have to agree with Duke that a resale should be purchased beforehand and recorded in the system, prior to buying from the developer. Though we were able to do it afterwards, it was touch and go for a while.

Anyhow, if anyone is interested in purchasing direct from WKORV-N, I can give you the name of our salesperson, who was instrumental at getting our resale qualified.

Ed

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Ed:

Please post the steps you went through and the documents signed to requalify. I would like to compare to my process. What was the resale you had purchased also?

Thanks,
Duke

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

These are the steps that I have taken thus far. Keep in mind that I bought developer week first, which I would not recommend.

During the purchase from the developer, I specified that I would be purchasing a resale week, and I wanted it requalified for all the perks. After some hemming and hawing, the sales manager finally agreed to put it in the contract. To keep it reasonable, he said I would have to purchase the resale within 30 days. The salesperson and team manager had to confer with the "sales manager" to ensure that this had a reasonable chance of happening.

I purchased the very next day, a resale week at Vistana Villages, a 2BR in Platinum season, worth 81k staroptions. I received a copy of the old deed and faxed it to my salesperson to get the contract number so he could begin the paperwork

I was in touch with the resale company frequently, asking them to close ASAP. I closed in 12 days, and had the deed recorded in 16 days. By 22 days after the purchase, I had it transfered to the SVO headquarters.

All the while, I was in contact with my salesperson to keep them apprised of the situation. At the end, it almost did not happen, but the salesperson said he went to bat for us, and assured that it would go through. I don't know in particular who he had to talk to or what paperwork he had to do.

I'm interested in hearing if your process differed.

Ed

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

I have spoken to reps at Desert Oasis and PGA this week about buying
the cheapest EOY and getting the starpoints and staroptions reassigned to a Sheraton Broadway that I am in the process of closing on. Both were very familiar with the process and very willing to put it in contract. The only thing other thing, I did find out was that if you try to do it with a platinum week from Desert Oasis you need to be careful. Evidently, when Sheraton took over, some the units were classified as gold and others as platinum for points and options, so that you need to verify whether or not you get 148100 or 81000 options on reassignment, most get trated as gold for 81000 regardless of current season. They can tell by original contract number or possibly unit and week number, just more work.

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

sunami said:

During the purchase from the developer, I specified that I would be purchasing a resale week, and I wanted it requalified for all the perks. After some hemming and hawing, the sales manager finally agreed to put it in the contract.
Ed

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Ed:

What was actually written in the contract? Can you quote the words?

Duke

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

In this scenarion, how would the conversion to starpoints work:

The rule is no consecutive year conversions to starpoints. I assume you couldn't convert each timeshare (resale + developer) separately over two consecutive years?

You would probably have to do one or both at the same time and then wait two years to do this again.

TIA,

George

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

duke said:

Ed:

What was actually written in the contract? Can you quote the words?

Duke

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Sorry for the delay in responding, didn't see your message until recently.

The words written were " Will attempt to requalify a resale week purchased within 30 days for elite status and starpoint conversion. "

I am still assuming that it went through, but to be honest, I don't know how I can tell it was officially done.

Do you get notification that you are now 3* elite?

Ed

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

sunami said:

Sorry for the delay in responding, didn't see your message until recently.

The words written were " Will attempt to requalify a resale week purchased within 30 days for elite status and starpoint conversion. "

I am still assuming that it went through, but to be honest, I don't know how I can tell it was officially done.

Do you get notification that you are now 3* elite?

Ed

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Hi Ed:

Actually, I was requalified as 4* since I had two resales.

In my case, there was paperwork for the Elite status that was filled out during my Developer purchase transaction. This is a form that is filled out to notify SVO of the new Elite status and it iw mentioned in my first post. Also, there were forms that were filled out for the requalification of my resales that actually were the original sale forms with my name on it.

You can easily find out your status by logging onto www.mystarcentral.com with your Resale contract numbers. If the "what I own" section shows StarOptions and StarPoints then your resale has been requlaified.

You can also find out about your Elite status by calling member services directly.

Please post what finally happened.

All the best,
Duke

Re: SVO Resale: Yes you can requalify as direct sale

To All -

Has anyone requalified a "SHERATON DESERT OASIS" week and know what their Starwood point values (StarOption & StarPoint) ? I am looking at a 2-bdrm L/O on the resale market that I would want to requalify, but do not have any idea what its point values would be. It was formally the Embassy Vacation Resort so this unit was not sold as a SVO originally and was never assigned a SVO point value. How will this be handled by Starwood on the requalify? Does anyone know? I may just have to call a salesman at the resort. The 2-bdrm I want to buy is a floating week good from week 1-52 so I would think it would be the same as the Platinum weeks currently being sold.

Thanks for the help -
Jon in AZ