It's time to pick up some Platinum weeks for cheap

[thinze3]

...So let me restate my original reaction to this thread – Buying a timeshare, even resale, at this point is an incredibly dumb thing to do. (And that’s me putting on my holiday PC hat). But its your money and if you do the due diligence you can smile and report back that stepping in front of that freight train was an incredibly brilliant thing to do...

Good morning Perry!

I hope to close on my Marriotts BeachPlace Towers by the end of the year (twenty cents on the dollar). :ignore: It looks like my first use with it will be to bank my '09 week and trade it for a Marriott in Hawaii in 2010. I will then let my friend use it while I use his newly-bought-from-the-developer Royal Haciendas in 2011.

Terry

P.S.
I also called my broker a few weeks ago and bought bank stocks. He said, "Terry, why does this not surprise me. All my other calls today have been to sell the financials."

P.S.S.
I wish I had a few hundred thousand bucks in the bank. I wouldn't have bought an MBP timeshare, I would have bought an entire condo in Ft Lauderdale.

 

[PerryM]

Timeshare "Superior Returns"? Really?

Good morning Perry!

I hope to close on my Marriotts BeachPlace Towers by the end of the year (twenty cents on the dollar). :ignore: It looks like my first use with it will be to bank my '09 week and trade it for a Marriott in Hawaii in 2010. I will then let my friend use it while I use his newly-bought-from-the-developer Royal Haciendas in 2011.

Terry

P.S.
I also called my broker a few weeks ago and bought bank stocks. He said, "Terry, why does this not surprise me. All my other calls today have been to sell the financials."

P.S.S.
I wish I had a few hundred thousand bucks in the bank. I wouldn't have bought an MBP timeshare, I would have bought an entire condo in Ft Lauderdale.

If you buy a timeshare and hold it for a long period of time, 25+ years then buying from the developer or on eBay is moot. As long as the resort is stable and the owners aren't jumping ship to declare bankruptcy then this is fine.

But the other part of this thread is:
"My guess is that you pick them up for $.50 on the dollar or less. When Marriott starts exercising again, you will earn a superior return."

This advice is coming from a licensed timeshare real estate broker offering "Superior Return" - this sounds like a security to me and that's a conflict. Timeshares are sold as something that you use and pass down to your heirs.

It's ok for you and I to talk about a timeshare as an "investment" but I believe it's against the law to a licensed real estate broker to be hawking "superior returns" on timeshares.

But maybe I'm wrong - all those timeshare real estate agents do talk about "superior returns" on your timeshare portfolio.

That's why I'm so ticked at this suggestion - it came from a licensed timeshare real estate broker.

Again, you decide - I report my opinions. Take them for what you paid for them.

P.S.

Congratulations 20 cents on the dollar sounds like a great bargain. I love BPT and we have exchanged into it many times over the years - well done.

Maybe we should hold a contest and see who gets the best discount on a Marriott week? Some kind of prize would be nice. Probably have to have groups like "Platinum", "Platinum Plus", "Silver" ect. But we should see who get's the absolute best discount.

20 cents on the dollar is actually lower than WorldMark credits which are now selling for 28 cents on the dollar. Well done. (I really never thought I'd see this day in any of my wildest forecasts; Marriotts selling for less than WorldMarks)

 

[BocaBum99]

Perry,

I always felt that your recommendations provided investors in anything you've posted about with a tremendous contrarian indicator. In other words, if you are recommending it, everyone should run from it.

Little did I know just how good you are as that contrarian indicator.

On Oct 8, 2007 in this thread: Perry's thread on investing in stocks vs. Real Estate, you make the recommendation to buy and hold DIA, the Dow Jones industrial averages ETF.

On Oct 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial average peaked at 14164.

At the time you recommended DIA, the ETF was trading at 140.52. At this time, it is trading at 89.57.

Anyone who bet that you were wrong and shorted DIA would have made a profit of 36%.

Any of us can bloviate on these forums. What matters is the track record of those recommendations. Your track record of being wrong is truly astounding.

I think we should book mark this thread and come back to see it in several years. Then, we should evaluate whether your recommendation or mine was the right one. It will be easy to determine. If we look at eBay and see every conceivable Marriott being sold for $1 on eBay, I will post that you were right. If Marriott resumes exercising ROFR above today's prices, I was right. Time will tell.

 

[Eric]

I think Perry suffers from Napoleon's complex and wants to be a leader even if the kool aid is tainted

Perry,

I always felt that your recommendations provided investors in anything you've posted about with a tremendous contrarian indicator. In other words, if you are recommending it, everyone should run from it.

Little did I know just how good you are as that contrarian indicator.

On Oct 8, 2007 in this thread: Perry's thread on investing in stocks vs. Real Estate, you make the recommendation to buy and hold DIA, the Dow Jones industrial averages ETF.

On Oct 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial average peaked at 14164.

At the time you recommended DIA, the ETF was trading at 140.52. At this time, it is trading at 89.57.

Anyone who bet that you were wrong and shorted DIA would have made a profit of 36%.

Any of us can bloviate on these forums. What matters is the track record of those recommendations. Your track record of being wrong is truly astounding.

I think we should book mark this thread and come back to see it in several years. Then, we should evaluate whether your recommendation or mine was the right one. It will be easy to determine. If we look at eBay and see every conceivable Marriott being sold for $1 on eBay, I will post that you were right. If Marriott resumes exercising ROFR above today's prices, I was right. Time will tell.

 

[thinze3]

Yeah, but these boards are much more fun to read when Perry sticks his head in the door every couple of months.

Terry

 

[BocaBum99]

Yeah, but these boards are much more fun to read when Perry sticks his head in the door every couple of months.

Terry

I totally agree. Perry is such a colorful and interesting writer that he should write some books. Fiction would be my recommendation.

But, he should stay away from making buy and sell recommendations.

Perry was once really high on condo hotels and bought one in Daytona Beach in Dec of 2005. That was right near the top of the Real Estate bubble in Florida. His track record as a contrarian indicator is getting even more amazing as I check his past recommendations.

In this thread: Condo Hotels thread, Perry discusses a strategy for buying and holding real estate for 5 years. I'll be very surprised if he has a capital gain when he sells it in 2010.

In this thread: Thread where Perry tells us the criteria for purchasing a condo hotel

Trump is the king of condo-hotels (CH). One can argue whether Trump is the winner or his clients, or both.

A condo hotel is yet another way to own real estate and participate in its appreciation that inevitably follows. But if you buy a CH to become a Trump you are buying for the wrong reason.

Buy a CH, if it should make sense, because you actually want to use it. If you do that and plan to hold it for 5 years and all your numbers make sense then it’s a possible buy for you.

There are many items to consider, like how much time you can use it per year, and the management company is very important but these decisions are no different than buying a normal condo.

When the real estate market takes off again, (I’m guessing by the end of the year or 1 year from now at the max) CHs will once be the darlings of the real estate market – folks will be standing in lines for 24 hours in order to get the privilege of putting down $20k for a chance at buying one. Just wait.

P.S.
The real "Secret" to CHs is the 3 year Build Cycle. You put down 20%, pay nothing more for 3 years, while your CH is being built. If you happen to luck out when the real estate market is hot you get 3 years of appreciation on a very expensive condo for just 20% down. Then you buy it and use it for 5 years. Or, if the real estate gods have been kind, flip it.

What is intersting about this post is not the logic. He has used this same logic to purchase pre-construction timeshares from Marriott. What makes it so off the charts astounding is the timing. Dec 2005 is right near the peak of the Florida Real Estate market.

 

[PerryM]

Mark this thread please...

Guys there are two completely different threads intertwined here:

1) You buy a timeshare as the developer says it’s to be used
2) You play timeshare mogul

I’m assuming this thread is all about flipping timeshares – that’s the reference to “My guess is that you pick them up for $.50 on the dollar or less. When Marriott starts exercising again, you will earn a superior return.”

If your goal is to use timeshares for a “superior return” that’s just dumb in this climate. 2 years ago you could do this (and many did) but not now guys; come on use a little common sense.

If you buy a timeshare and use it (use, rent, exchange) for a long period of time it makes little difference where you buy it from. The folks who buy Marriotts from the developer get MRPs that at the time were offsetting to the 40% discount you could get resale.

Additionally Marriotts appreciated 5% per year and thus 5 – 7 years of ownership would bring you back to the purchase price.

Maybe some of you missed the last year – the stock market lost about 50% of its value and the real estate about 25% and the credit markets are shot to hell too.

That changes everything and I don’t remember folks making these predictions 1 – 2 years ago. So just about everyone who owns stock is a loser and that goes for you home owners too – all are losers.

Sooooo? Everything cycles and until you actually complete the transaction there is no gain or loss – even Uncle Sam can’t get its grubby little hands on most of that (there are plenty of exceptions though). So until a transaction closes one can only make the decision as to how much glee or pain to endure.

Going back to snippets of past posts is fun and I’d bet I could selectively pull out may phrases that now look foolish to a lot of folks. That’s playing 20/20 and only has entertainment value. I'm not trying to play this game.

So if you want to buy a timeshare and hold it for a long time and make the yearly MFs then buying now from the developer or on eBay makes little difference after 25+ years. That’s always been my point.

I’ve predicted the timeshare bubble bursting and pointed out that looking for “superior returns” of timeshares is a foolish way to invest your money.

Book mark this thread and see if I’m wrong in the upcoming years.

I fully understand that folks who make money buying and selling timeshares to us on this chat room might get a little upset with me. So be it.

P.S.

I mean the timeshare market is no GM or Ford or Chrysler - nothing to worry about here guys - go ahead and play timeshare mogul if you want. I still think its a dumb idea; but that's just me.

 

[Latravel]

Go Perry go! Go Perry go! (I used to be a cheerleader in college.)

Though I don't agree with some of your posts, I appreciate how you stand your ground politely when someone else isn't being polite.

 

[PerryM]

Go Perry go! Go Perry go! (I used to be a cheerleader in college.)

Though I don't agree with some of your posts, I appreciate how you stand your ground politely when someone else isn't being polite.

 

[PerryM]

I don't know about the rest of you folks here but I'm scared out of my mind.

Read about a new report on how America is bankrupt and that was before the last few months of our insane government's antics. More and more of this will come out - this is turning out to be a repeat of 1929 folks.

Keep your powder dry until things settle down and you might be able to make one-in-a-lifetime purchases that will then remain within your family for generations.

 

[BocaBum99]

Perry,

I, too, have been scared out of my wits within the last 2 months several times. Each time I felt that way about the stock market and deflation, I look at the markets the next day and something pops up that tells me we are not headed to the great depression.

Moreover, I believe we are reaching a bottoming process for most markets. I am a big fan of Jim Cramer and he is predicting a bottom for the real estate market by mid-June of next year. If that indeed happens, then everything else can heal.

One of the indicators I am using to detect a bottom of the real estate market is when I become personally motivated to buy residential real estate again. I've been in the market to buy a new home since 2005. I haven't done it for fear of dropping prices.

If interest rates head down to 4.5% like many pundits are predicting and if this is happening at the same time housing starts have reached the lowest levels since 1959 (that's a 50 year low) and housing prices have dropped 30-40% in many locations, that seems like the right time to buy for me. Jim Cramer is saying to purchase a house in the early Spring and quickly re-finance it in the summer when he believes interest rates could be down below 4%.

As Warren Buffet once said, “be greedy when everyone else is afraid and be afraid when everyone else is greedy.”

 

[PerryM]

Perry,

I, too, have been scared out of my wits within the last 2 months several times. Each time I felt that way about the stock market and deflation, I look at the markets the next day and something pops up that tells me we are not headed to the great depression.

Moreover, I believe we are reaching a bottoming process for most markets. I am a big fan of Jim Cramer and he is predicting a bottom for the real estate market by mid-June of next year. If that indeed happens, then everything else can heal.

One of the indicators I am using to detect a bottom of the real estate market is when I become personally motivated to buy residential real estate again. I've been in the market to buy a new home since 2005. I haven't done it for fear of dropping prices.

If interest rates head down to 4.5% like many pundits are predicting and if this is happening at the same time housing starts have reached the lowest levels since 1959 (that's a 50 year low) and housing prices have dropped 30-40% in many locations, that seems like the right time to buy for me. Jim Cramer is saying to purchase a house in the early Spring and quickly re-finance it in the summer when he believes interest rates could be down below 4%.

As Warren Buffet once said, “be greedy when everyone else is afraid and be afraid when everyone else is greedy.”

I not only see the timeshare market going belly up I see many timeshare resorts going bust - too many owners throwing in the towel. Buying a $1 Platinum Marriott and paying MFs that could skyrocket to cover the folks bailing out makes that $1 Marriott a real drag.

The developers will simply become the management company and send the collection agencies after delinquent owners. They might then start to allow the owner to pay them $5k to get out of their unit and wait for the storm to clear.

They are timeshare developers who know how to make a buck or two from even a disaster.

But folks here are all grown ups and they can do what ever they want.

 

[BocaBum99]

I not only see the timeshare market going belly up I see many timeshare resorts going bust - too many owners throwing in the towel. Buying a $1 Platinum Marriott and paying MFs that could skyrocket to cover the folks bailing out makes that $1 Marriott a real drag.

The developers will simply become the management company and send the collection agencies after delinquent owners. They might then start to allow the owner to pay them $5k to get out of their unit and wait for the storm to clear.

They are timeshare developers who know how to make a buck or two from even a disaster.

But folks here are all grown ups and they can do what ever they want.

If you truly believe that scenario, then you should sell out your entire timeshare portfolio now. Why hold when you could end up with no vacation like many bankrupt DCs. That's because there will be significant maintenance fee increases and special assessments to cover for dead beat owners who default on MFs.

I think delinquencies will increase significantly this coming year. And, there will probably be increased fees and additional reserve fees collected to cover for the losses. This is near term.

Many developers will go belly up and the market will likely consolidate. Once that happens, the market can heal itself and resume growth after about a 50% correction. That is my guess.

 

[taffy19]

Yeah, but these boards are much more fun to read when Perry sticks his head in the door every couple of months.

Terry

I agee. I really enjoy reading their views and value them too plus it makes for interesting reading during this time of doom and gloom.

I still believe that working people will try to take vacations but they will look for bargains first and you can find them everywhere.

Jim, I believe that the Marriott Palm Desert timeshare condos fit the bill or the NCVs. They are in easy driving distance from Los Angeles but you need to buy the platinum season when the rents are high. The rest of the year, you can find many deals staying there. They are excellent traders too but you need more than one week or you will have another problem and that is making reservations at both resorts. You already own one so you are OK but you may need more weeks to get the best weeks that everyone is trying to get. This may change if the Marriott goes over to points but will they?

 

[BocaBum99]

I agee. I really enjoy reading their views and value them too plus it makes for interesting reading during this time of doom and gloom.

I still believe that working people will try to take vacations but they will look for bargains first and you can find them everywhere.

Jim, I believe that the Marriott Palm Desert timeshare condos fit the bill or the NCVs. They are in easy driving distance from Los Angeles but you need to buy the platinum season when the rents are high. The rest of the year, you can find many deals staying there. They are excellent traders too but you need more than one week or you will have another problem and that is making reservations at both resorts. You already own one so you are OK but you may need more weeks to get the best weeks that everyone is trying to get. This may change if the Marriott goes over to points but will they?

Thanks Emmy, those are good ideas. Like I said, this is an experiment. If I find something that meets the criteria, I'll buy it and post the details over time. My theory could be wrong, but I think the odds are in my favor.

 

[PerryM]

If you truly believe that scenario, then you should sell out your entire timeshare portfolio now. Why hold when you could end up with no vacation like many bankrupt DCs. That's because there will be significant maintenance fee increases and special assessments to cover for dead beat owners who default on MFs.

I think delinquencies will increase significantly this coming year. And, there will probably be increased fees and additional reserve fees collected to cover for the losses. This is near term.

Many developers will go belly up and the market will likely consolidate. Once that happens, the market can heal itself and resume growth after about a 50% correction. That is my guess.

Sounds like we have some agreements here.

Will hold on to our timeshares since we are already booked them up to 2010.

2009 may be a wild and woolly year for the United States.

Best wishes to everyone. I sure wish everyone a profitable 2009.

 

[Vacation Dude]

I think both Perry and Boca have good and bad points.

I think NOW is a great time to be a buyer of timeshares or anything else if you have cash.

Marriotts are at a historic low especially w/o ROFR and if you want a ski week in park City, owning beats renting any day. If you want to get a beach place, same thing.

Thus, I think now and all of 2009 will be a great time to buy.

I think Perry is pretty doom and gloom, who knows, but if a depression hits, owning a timeshare and paying maintenance will be the last of your worries. Besides a new president will inspire hope and will represent change.

Bronze weeks may work if you get lucky, but I doubt that "most" people can trade it for prime time Hawaii or holiday week in Utah.

I don't want to enter the battle or debate, but both have interesting points.

Perhaps Perry should stick to the stock market as there is more opportunity to profit than timeshares and then he can rent whatever he wants from his stock profits.

Boca appears to be a Bluegreen expert (reseller?) and I don;t see any Marriotts for sale, thus he does not have a conflict of interest.

 

[taffy19]

Jim, since you often come to southern CA, I thought this was a good choice for you. If you buy the platinum season, it would be easy to rent them out but if you do not succeed, you can always use it yourself or you can exchange it with an extra week.

I guess, you could find a resort too in or near FL where you also visit often but I don't know anything about the resorts over there.

If you buy for the highest rental income, the ski weeks should be the best because HI is risky with the airline fares only going higher. Since you live there, you should have no problem making these last minute exchanges anyway. How nice that is!

 

[PerryM]

I think both Perry and Boca have good and bad points.

I think NOW is a great time to be a buyer of timeshares or anything else if you have cash.

Marriotts are at a historic low especially w/o ROFR and if you want a ski week in park City, owning beats renting any day. If you want to get a beach place, same thing.

Thus, I think now and all of 2009 will be a great time to buy.

I think Perry is pretty doom and gloom, who knows, but if a depression hits, owning a timeshare and paying maintenance will be the last of your worries. Besides a new president will inspire hope and will represent change.

Bronze weeks may work if you get lucky, but I doubt that "most" people can trade it for prime time Hawaii or holiday week in Utah.

I don't want to enter the battle or debate, but both have interesting points.

Perhaps Perry should stick to the stock market as there is more opportunity to profit than timeshares and then he can rent whatever he wants from his stock profits.

Boca appears to be a Bluegreen expert (reseller?) and I don;t see any Marriotts for sale, thus he does not have a conflict of interest.

We love timeshares – they have added a lot to our lives.

What's about to befall them is truly heart wrenching.

We love looking ahead 1 year (13 months) and the thrill of trying to snag something in II. Love snagging a $65k timeshare using a $5k timeshare.

Love actually using them for vacations. I can’t tell you how nice its been to snowboard down the Park City Mountain Resort right up to the Marriott MountainSide and be 5 steps from entering the resort. We used to own there but now just exchange there. Same with SummitWatch.

When our son was small an hour on the slopes would be followed with hot chocolate and movies in the villa overlooking PayDay the main lift at the resort. We have fond memories of doing this at Park City for 10 years now.

I enjoy going back to familiar haunts but we have had 59-day II exchanges and jumped in the car and had a ball – again a $45k timeshare for $5k on our part.

I dread the day Marriott might dump II and our WorldMark credits will have much less use to us. But in this climate who knows what will happen.

I still recommend timeshares to folks and if you can use them the way they are sold you can basically buy them anytime from the developer or resale – it really doesn’t matter in the long run. I must caution folks that the horrific scenarios I envision are just guesses but something is going to happen to this timeshare market.

So the temptation might be there in 2009 to snap up an unbelievable timeshare deal and I know my knees will weaken and if it’s MountainSide or SummitWatch I’ll be sweating bullets but I hope to pass on all those deals until I see blood in the timeshare streets.

But, I'm not selling them - they are too valuable to our memories and lives.

 

[BocaBum99]

I think both Perry and Boca have good and bad points.

I think NOW is a great time to be a buyer of timeshares or anything else if you have cash.

Marriotts are at a historic low especially w/o ROFR and if you want a ski week in park City, owning beats renting any day. If you want to get a beach place, same thing.

Thus, I think now and all of 2009 will be a great time to buy.

I think Perry is pretty doom and gloom, who knows, but if a depression hits, owning a timeshare and paying maintenance will be the last of your worries. Besides a new president will inspire hope and will represent change.

Bronze weeks may work if you get lucky, but I doubt that "most" people can trade it for prime time Hawaii or holiday week in Utah.

I don't want to enter the battle or debate, but both have interesting points.

Perhaps Perry should stick to the stock market as there is more opportunity to profit than timeshares and then he can rent whatever he wants from his stock profits.

Boca appears to be a Bluegreen expert (reseller?) and I don;t see any Marriotts for sale, thus he does not have a conflict of interest.

Excellent summary. I actually like Perry a lot. I think he's really smart and has a lot of good ideas. Plus, he is extremely entertaining. I just don't agree with a lot of his most colorful recommendations (as he doesn't agree with mine) and I have a rational, fact based, analytical reason for that disagreement.

The whole point of such debates is to get the pros and cons out on the table so that people can make up their own minds. I think they have done it.

In order for there to be a trade, there has to be someone who believes selling is right and someone else who believes buying at that time and price are right.

Regarding Marriott Summit Watch Bronze units, you can absolutely get PRIME trades with them as long as it is within the Flexchange period. I've done it for 3 years straight. My $1500 capital investment including closing costs completely paid itself off in my first year of ownership just via exchanges vs. renting. 100% payback in the first 3 months of ownership. Not many timeshares have thaqt type of payback. Each year I use them and it works is pure Gravy. Heading over to a poolside 2br unit at the Marriott Ko'Olina for week 51 on Saturday using it. Also had a week 52 for a 2br Maui Marriott that I released since I already have a unit for a 2br week 52 also at the Ko'Olina.

At this time, I am actively seeking an upgrade opportunity for these Marrriott's. I'm willing to dump these on eBay for $1 if I can get a platinum 2 bedroom lockoff at the same resort for under something under $10k (I haven't figured out the price point yet).

 

[sernow]

"but I hope to pass on all those deals until I see blood in the timeshare streets"

Good grief Perry! If there isn't enough blood in the timeshare streets now, then I'm really not looking forward to getting to the time you're envisioning.

 

[Vacation Dude]

"but I hope to pass on all those deals until I see blood in the timeshare streets"

Good grief Perry! If there isn't enough blood in the timeshare streets now, then I'm really not looking forward to getting to the time you're envisioning.

I guess this would be timeshare Armageddon

 

[stevens397]

Does anyone here remember the old Saturday Night Live Point-Counterpoint where Jane Curtain would sya, "Jane, you ignorant slut!"

 

[PerryM]

1/10 full or 9/10 empty - you decide...

"but I hope to pass on all those deals until I see blood in the timeshare streets"

Good grief Perry! If there isn't enough blood in the timeshare streets now, then I'm really not looking forward to getting to the time you're envisioning.

For years now Wyndham (old Fairfield) has been commanding 15% of the sales price 5 seconds after the ink dries on the sales contract from the developer. No one raises an eyebrow in that resale market. Wyndham has no ROFR and no resale program and considers each Wyndham owner the son of Satan.

I believe that for years to come 15% is probably a realistic figure for ALL timeshares (Disney excluded). But you can find Wyndhams for $1 on eBay occasionally.

However, I’d expect the timeshare industry, as a whole, to stop the piggish 4 to 1 ratio of sales price to acquisition cost and drop that to 2 to 1. That and a massive restructuring of how timeshares are sold means that resales probably will be close to 5% of current prices. A current $35k Marriott should go for $1,750 resale.

Marriott does have a ROFR and supports resales and they might step in and actively start to contact members to repurchase prime units – I can only guess.

I don’t recommend anyone sell their timeshare as prices implode – hold on and use them – that’s why you bought them.

The only fly in the ointment is the resorts themselves – we own units at the Park Plaza in Park City and when we bought them 4+ years ago they were for sale everywhere – the HOA had 35% delinquent rate and luckily Raintree stepped in and bought most of them. The resort was in a world of hurt due to a bad HOA. Many timeshares might succumb to the owners just walking away and the lengthy process of foreclosure starts – it takes a lot of time and no dues come in during that time. Then they have to find folks wanting to buy them and pay the MFs at a timeshare on the verge of going belly up.

With real estate far from bottoming out the prospect of a complete rout of the industry is a possibility.

But I’m just guessing and maybe timeshares can outrun the tsunami that is overtaking our country – maybe we should ask Santa for some help.

And yes, folks here will report unbelievable deals on top of the line timeshares - each person here has to decide on their risk/reward level. Again, if you buy these fantastic bargains and plan for the family to use them for a generation then they might make sense - even now. But I'm guessing that as low as they might seem now they will be way over priced from a year from now.

 

[Vacation Dude]

A current $35k Marriott should go for $1,750 resale.

Again, if you buy these fantastic bargains and plan for the family to use them for a generation then they might make sense - even now. But I'm guessing that as low as they might seem now they will be way over priced from a year from now.

I seriously have to question these above statements as that would indicate that it will be possible to buy a Marriott Utah ski week (SW or MS) for $1,750?

Really? Perhaps you mean Bronze weeks.

When a 2 bedroom ski week rents for about $750 per day from Marriott for non-owners, then this timeshare would pay for itself in 3 nights.

Let me know where I can buy a platinum 2 bedroom Marriott ski week (ski-in/out) for this low price.