One of the reasons I drew a huge bull’s-eye on my back was to alert folks that flatly refusing to buy from the developer 100% of the time can have them passing up some great opportunities.
I doubt that 6 months from now I will be heralding ph purchases from the developer. Heck that could even be in July just a little more than 1 month from now. Each person here has a comfort level as to what we will buy. Our purchase of this one week is more than a High Country Club membership which is a Destination Club. I felt that our money would be safer in this project than HCC or any DC. My price point for a DC is very low.
Marriott has been selling Grand Chateau for years now and ph just 5 weeks and they are beginning to surpass Marriott in price - this will just accelerate. I saw the sales to backup the current prices and I view the sales prices as underpriced. The Marriott is priced right from the little analysis I did on them.
This is a window of opportunity for those who feel comfortable with these price points. I have a feeling that the prices are already increasing and we all know the developers never move the prices back towards last weeks prices.
Conclusion:
I do expect ph's prices to dwarf Marriott's - this should not be a surprise to anyone. After all, I believe we are witnessing the waking movements of the #1 timeshare in the US. I don't think it will take long for me to be vindicated.
Perry,
Did you know that Tahiti Village's prices already dwarf Marriott's prices? A couple of years ago, when we took the tour at Tahiti Village, they were asking $39,000 for a two bedroom unit and, they had just begun pre-construction sales. Those prices have also gone up. I believe the last price point I saw was $45,000.
Using the acceleration of the developer pricing as a gauge for future resale valuations of any timeshare is penny wise but pound foolish. Just because developer prices will go up is no indication that buying a developer week is a good deal. The more I read, the more I believe you've become intoxicated by the stories you've read of people successfully flipping timeshares that were purchased pre-construction for a slight profit somewhere down the road. That has happened with very few quality timeshares from quailty developers in quality locations.
At issue here is the location, Las Vegas (middle of the desert) and the developer, Westgate, whose history speaks for itself. Las Vegas is not some high demand ski week or beach week somewhere on an exotic shore. It's a timeshare connected to a casino out in the desert. Comparitively, demand for Vegas is not that high and there are many quality units to choose from. In your opinion they may not be Westgate quality but none-the-less they are quality resorts within a stones throw of PH Towers.
It is true that you've managed to get in close to the ground floor for this building (they been in active sales for well over a year now) and developer prices will go up. Exactly how much you've over analyzed this and fooled yourself into thinking resale pricing will support your belief is going to take several more years to see.
The one thing I'm certain of is you had better really like this unit and time to pay those prices from the developer to own it now rather than wait and buy resale latter. I know that I paid to much for my Polo Towers units, my HGVC unit and my Marriott unit. I acknowledge that. However, they were units we liked at the time we saw them, units we wanted to own at the time we saw them and we did not want to wait until they hit the resale market.
When we bought PT's, we were told "Own a piece of the strip." Sorry to burst your bubble but nothing could be further from the truth. True you have a 1/52 interest in one unit in a building on (or in your case near) LV BLV. but, to realize any net gain from "owning a piece of the Las Vegas strip" either all or a huge majority of owners would have to agree to sell out. That's never likely to happen with any major timeshare project on or near the strip. A major improvement would have to take place like what HET offered Summer Bay owners and I just don't see that ever happening with PH Towers unless they are allowed to be run into the ground.
Sorry to be skeptical, but I have not seen ANY independent confirmation of that and find it hard to believe. It is possible that you are correct about it, but I would need more proof than that. None of the articles say Starwood paid for anything other than 15% of the PH casino-resort, which does not include the Miracle Mile Mall or anything else not directly in the resort-casino.
