# Sheraton Resale vs Developer purchase



## TroyCouple (Apr 18, 2006)

My husband and I just purchased a one-bedroom with 37,000 options at Sheraton Vistana Villages.  We received 75,000 Starpoints, became a Gold member in the SVO and are eligible for "owners specials".  My sister adviced me that we need to cancel the deal and purchase via resale.  We purchased for $12,900 and I found an individual selling an identical timeshare for much, much less.  I am aware that if we go with the resale, we will not be receiving the 75,000 Starpoints.  My questions are:  1) Will we still be considered Gold Members in the SVO?  2)  Will we still be eligible for the "owners specials"?  3) From what I can tell, there doesn't appear to be any disadvantage to purchasing via resale.  Does anyone know of any disadvantages?   I appreciate any advice.  We have until the 25th to cancel our current purchase agreement.


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## Pedro (Apr 18, 2006)

TroyCouple said:
			
		

> My husband and I just purchased a one-bedroom with 37,000 options at Sheraton Vistana Villages. We received 75,000 Starpoints, became a Gold member in the SVO and are eligible for "owners specials". My sister adviced me that we need to cancel the deal and purchase via resale. We purchased for $12,900 and I found an individual selling an identical timeshare for much, much less. I am aware that if we go with the resale, we will not be receiving the 75,000 Starpoints. My questions are: 1) Will we still be considered Gold Members in the SVO? 2) Will we still be eligible for the "owners specials"? 3) From what I can tell, there doesn't appear to be any disadvantage to purchasing via resale. Does anyone know of any disadvantages? I appreciate any advice. We have until the 25th to cancel our current purchase agreement.


 
Buying resale at the Vistana Villages will allow you to join the Starwood Vacation Network.  
1) I don't think the Gold membership gets transferred to a new owner who purchases resale.
2) I don't remember ever seeing an "owners special"  Did they tell you want they meant?
3) Other than the fact that you don't receive the 75,000 starpoints, and that a resale purchase doesn't count towards elite status, I don't see a disadvantage of purchasing resale.


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## jerseygirl (Apr 18, 2006)

Read this excellent article regarding Starwood's program:

http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

In a nutshell, you'll lose the 75000 Starpoints and the ability to exchange your week for Starpoints.  You'll keep the ability to exchange your week for StarOptions.  $12900 will purchase a LOT more StarOptions on the resale market.  There aren't very many places you can go with 37000 options.  Did they give you a copy of this:

http://www.starwoodvo.com/ownership/discover_vo_p7.html

Everyone's needs are different, but my personal opinion is that you need a minimum of 81000 StarOptions, which gets you:

2-BR summer week at Broadway Plantation
2-BR prime week at Vistana Villages (or a 2-BR lockoff at Vistana Resort)
Premium 1-BR ski week at Mountain Vista
Premium 1-BR in Maui or Princeville
Premium 1-BR prime week in Cancun, plus change
Premium 1-BR prime week at Harborside, or 2-BR summer week

Good luck!

Edited to fix sentence


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## DeniseM (Apr 18, 2006)

According to sources quoted in this other TUG thread, you do get SPG Gold status with a resale - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18089

Either way, that wouldn't be a deciding factor for me - now that they are giving away Gold Cards right and left, Gold status doesn't have much real value.

I am not a big fan of converting to Starpoints either.  They keep devaluing them and currently a standard room in a level 4 hotel room is going to cost you 12K Starpoints.  So if you convert your week to Starpoints, they aren't going to go very far.

And JerseyGirl's point about 37K Staroptions not being enough is critical.  If exchanging to other resorts is important to you, you need at least 81K Starpoints at a mandatory resort.


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## TroyCouple (Apr 18, 2006)

The example that was used in our presentation is this:  If you come back to the resort during the prime season (we purchased in high season) and want to stay at a 2 bedroom unit instead of the one bedroom that we purchased, we would be able to convert our 37,000 options to 4 nights in a two bedroom. Then...take advantage of an "owners special" to purchase another 3nights for $200-300.


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## jerseygirl (Apr 18, 2006)

Ah ... that owner's special.  Yes, even resale buyers get that.


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## TheUnitrep (Apr 19, 2006)

TroyCouple said:
			
		

> ...If you come back to the resort during the prime season (we purchased in high season) and want to stay at a 2 bedroom unit instead of the one bedroom that we purchased, we would be able to convert our 37,000 options to 4 nights in a two bedroom.



What the salesman told you is indeed true.....However, what he left out is that you can only make this type of reservation (less than 7 days) beginning 90 days prior to arrival.

At some resorts, during peak travel periods, this may prove to be close to impossible.

Hope this helps!!

Jerry


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## Courts (Apr 24, 2006)

Pedro said:
			
		

> Buying resale at the Vistana Villages will allow you to join the Starwood Vacation Network.
> 1) I don't think the Gold membership gets transferred to a new owner who purchases resale.
> 2) I don't remember ever seeing an "owners special"  Did they tell you want they meant?
> 3) Other than the fact that you don't receive the 75,000 starpoints, and that a resale purchase doesn't count towards elite status, I don't see a disadvantage of purchasing resale.


I purchased resale at Vistana Resort Cascades and since this is part of Vistana Vacation Club, I recieved a gold card.

"4B.6. Owners who are members of the Starwood Vacation Network and/or Vistana Plus program (collectively, the “Vacation Network”) will automatically receive Gold Membership and are not subject to the Minimum Gold Requirement to maintain Gold Membership. One Owner will be enrolled per vacation ownership interest purchased. Owners will maintain their Gold Membership, provided (i) the Member maintains his/her membership in the Vacation Network, and (ii) all fees, dues, taxes, and payment balances remain in good standing as defined by the vacation ownership contract."


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## Henry M. (Apr 24, 2006)

jerseygirl said:
			
		

> Ah ... that owner's special. Yes, even resale buyers get that.


 
I just got an e-mail with various special rates at different locations plus a few cruise specials to the Mexican Riviera (in the Pacific) and to the Western Caribbean. I haven't checked the prices, but they just now seem to be starting to have more of these travel specials. I think I just started seeing them this year and there have only been a couple.

Whether these specials are worth the extra money to buy from the developer is a different issue. You might even be able to get them with a resale purchase if you sign up at the owner's web site at www.mystarcentral.com. I'm not sure if resale buyers have access to this.

To me the biggest differences between resale and developer purchases are: 

1.) The ability to exchange your unit for Starpoints when you don't want to use your unit - some people say it is better to rent your unit out (rather than get Starpoints) if you don't use it. That depends on how many Starpoints you get and how much your unit is worth in the rental market. Check here or on Redweek.com to see how much your particular unit rents for. It is also irrelevant if you plan to use your unit every year. 

You should also take into account whether you travel to places where there are expensive SPG properties and where using Starpoints makes sense. Starpoints are also worth 1.25 airline miles (you can exchange 20,000 Starpoints for 25,000 airline miles).

2.) Resale units generally don't count towards Elite status - unimportant if you don't intend to buy more time. Also, if you do buy more time, you can buy from the developer and get them to accept your resale unit into the system. I'm not sure how difficult this would be but it is possible and others here mioght be able to help you.

I have a few developer units myself. Knowing what I know now, I'd probably buy a resale and then get it grandfathered in with a developer unit later, when I wanted the additional time. I do like the Elite benefits and the flexibility of getting Starpoints oncxe in a while (haven't done it yet), but they are not worth the full developer price, particularly in areas like Orlando where there are many alternative timeshare options.


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## ZDJ (Apr 24, 2006)

What happens if you purchase a week at Sheraton and later decide you want to own at, say, Westin Ka'anapali?  Does the developer allow you to trade in your existing week for credit towards the new week, or do you have to just buy an entirely new week and sell the old week?


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## DeniseM (Apr 24, 2006)

ZDJ said:
			
		

> What happens if you purchase a week at Sheraton and later decide you want to own at, say, Westin Ka'anapali?  Does the developer allow you to trade in your existing week for credit towards the new week, or do you have to just buy an entirely new week and sell the old week?



A recent poster in another thread owns a resale at the WKORV and wanted to trade it in on a new unit at WKORVN, and the on-site sales staff wouldn't go for it.  They said they do not accept resales.


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## ZDJ (Apr 24, 2006)

DeniseM said:
			
		

> A recent poster in another thread owns a resale at the WKORV and wanted to trade it in on a new unit at WKORVN, and the on-site sales staff wouldn't go for it.  They said they do not accept resales.



Was the original week a developer week or resale week?  Will the developer accept a developer week in trade for an upgrade?
thanks


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## DeniseM (Apr 24, 2006)

ZDJ said:
			
		

> Was the original week a developer week or resale week?  Will the developer accept a developer week in trade for an upgrade?
> thanks



As I said in my post, a resale week.  

I have heard of them accepting developer weeks towards a larger or more expensive unit.


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## ZDJ (Apr 24, 2006)

thanks Denise!  

Does anyone have any experience of trading sheraton developer weeks for westin developer weeks?


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## DeniseM (Apr 24, 2006)

ZDJ said:
			
		

> thanks Denise!
> 
> Does anyone have any experience of trading sheraton developer weeks for westin developer weeks?



Sheraton and Westin are all Starwood and part of the SVN, so in theory, it should work.


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