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

[Transit]

The original 2 bed was a developer purchase .I'm talking about upgading that to a bedroom L/O .Would this count as a developer sale enough to requalify a resale unit

 

[duke]

A report on a recent requal....

Additional Requal info and experience in this thread:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43598

 

[myip]

Another method

Another way to get staroptions.

There is another way, one that we just did. First, what I am about to tell you we considered a luxury decision. Second, since we did this just to get to 5*, SVO may have treated us differently since we were 4* to begin with. We needed (wanted) 123850 Options to get there. In looking at the "duke" model he got 121000 and that would have left us short (see his sticky).

We called SVO and the alternative was buy 3br VV for 38K -139000 Options(not going to happen), then I mentioned "resale".

It turns out SVO does sell resale (you have to ask), focusing mostly on Vistana Resort. After several calls and e-mails we were told we could buy 2 VR Cascades resale and they would let us requalify them and we could use them as any other options, convert them (yes I know...), and have them count toward 5*.

We bought two 2br VR Cascades for 8.5 each- worth 67100/ea or 134200 total options. With closing 18K. They faxed me the contract details and for 599 each requalified and we are now 5* and platinum. The customer service was excellent. On the phone they did all the computer work. Same day we had our 5* in the system and platinum on the SPG site, very cool. The MF's were already paid for in 2007 so we have the options to use this year (probably weekends at MH's).

I am willing to give anyone the sales reps name as her service was great, and it played out just as she said it would. This whole process took about 4 weeks. You can buy the resort cheaper, but we did not have to buy reasle independently and then buy a new developer unit and then requal. The only downside is the MF's will be a little higher that we would have liked, but overall it met our needs.

I do not know if they will do this for just anyone, but it worked for us. One last note, the gentleman at SVO owner services told me he regularly reads this site (thanks for your help) and spends a fair amount of time talking to folks that do not understand the process. Hope this helps.

 

[Kagehitokiri]

just called SVO

the rep i spoke with said you do have to be an owner in order to buy resales from SVO

 

[pointsjunkie]

have there been any changes in requalifying in the recent months?
1- can you requalify an EY with an EOY?
2- does it matter how many staroptions it is worth?
can i requalify a unit worth 81000 staroptions with a developer week worth 37000 staroptions?
3- can i requalify 2units with 2br l/o? would the price have to be for separate
units for example: requal a 1 br worth 81000 and a 1 br worth 37000 with a 2 br l/o worth 95700 staroptions ( 1-44000 and the other 51700)
4- do the staroptions have to be equal in a requal.ex( 81000 with a developer worth 81000)?
any input would be appreciated. all the resales are almost finalized so in august i can start the requal process.

 

[Westin5Star]

have there been any changes in requalifying in the recent months?
1- can you requalify an EY with an EOY?
2- does it matter how many staroptions it is worth?
can i requalify a unit worth 81000 staroptions with a developer week worth 37000 staroptions?
3- can i requalify 2units with 2br l/o? would the price have to be for separate
units for example: requal a 1 br worth 81000 and a 1 br worth 37000 with a 2 br l/o worth 95700 staroptions ( 1-44000 and the other 51700)
4- do the staroptions have to be equal in a requal.ex( 81000 with a developer worth 81000)?
any input would be appreciated. all the resales are almost finalized so in august i can start the requal process.

1. Yes you can if you work with the right person. I was able to do this twice last month.
2. Staroptions do not matter.
3. The only way that you could requal two units with a 2BR LO is if you get split deeds; in other words split the purchases (ie one 1BR and one studio separately). Of course you could always set new precedent but I have not heard of reqaualifying 2 units with one purchase.
4. See #2 above.

Good luck with your requals. I would check after everything closes as 2 of mine went perfectly and I had to follow up to make sure that the last one went through.

 

[ak4ever]

Inherited Week

My father passed away a year ago and we inherited the timeshare at Vistana. It is fixed week 7 at Falls. Can we qualify for the StarPoints or StarOptions and how do we go about it. We also just bought a resale week that was converted into RCI points already it is in The Shores at Lake Travis in Texas, I don't think is a Starwood Hotel. So I can only exchange the Vistana for Staroptions/points. Right???

Also I can turn this fixed week into RCI points when I become an RCI points member??

We bought this resale at Ebay and we are very pleased with the price we payed for the 39,600 points we will get anually.

Ana

 

[Henry M.]

My father passed away a year ago and we inherited the timeshare at Vistana. It is fixed week 7 at Falls. Can we qualify for the StarPoints or StarOptions and how do we go about it. We also just bought a resale week that was converted into RCI points already it is in The Shores at Lake Travis in Texas, I don't think is a Starwood Hotel. So I can only exchange the Vistana for Staroptions/points. Right???

Also I can turn this fixed week into RCI points when I become an RCI points member??

We bought this resale at Ebay and we are very pleased with the price we payed for the 39,600 points we will get anually.

Ana

I would call Starwood Ownership Portfolio Services at 800-743-7654 to figure out the exact status of your Starwood property. I'm not sure what happens when you inherit it. Did your father buy this property from Starwood or as a resale?

I'm not familiar with Vistana (I own in Maui), but Starwood is converting all their properties to exchange with Interval International so there will be no affiliation with RCI. You can use the Staroptions to exchange with other SVN resorts or you can convert to Starpoints to be used for hotel stays. Conventional wisdom around here is that the latter is not usually a good deal. You can also exchange your week through Interval International.


Where is The Shores at Lake Travis? I live in Austin and go to for a weekend at the lake.

 

[ak4ever]

I did not know that Starwood wanted to elimimate RCI as an exchange agent, this is the main reason we bought this points Time Share in Texas, to become points members and be able to deposit our fixed week at Vistana as well. Vistana was bought about 25 years ago by my Dad directly from them.

The address for the Texas resort is 1917 American Drive, Lago Vista. We have not been there but it really looks good.

 

[pointsjunkie]

I did not know that Starwood wanted to elimimate RCI as an exchange agent, this is the main reason we bought this points Time Share in Texas, to become points members and be able to deposit our fixed week at Vistana as well. Vistana was bought about 25 years ago by my Dad directly from them.

The address for the Texas resort is 1917 American Drive, Lago Vista. We have not been there but it really looks good.

as far as i know the falls section will still be with RCI, only lakes and cascades are with II. you will definitely have to call starwood to find out if they will let you join the svn system. i do not think so, it will be their call because your dad was an original owner and they might let you.good luck

 

[ak4ever]

I called and they told me that this unit cannot be turned to points, and if it could, it would be $499 to start with, add $99 to the maintenance fee per year and $99 everytime I wanted to turn a week into StarPoints. So I am better off with RCI as long as Vistana will accept it.

Thank you for your time to answer my questions.

Ana

 

[vacationtime1]

I called and they told me that this unit cannot be turned to points, and if it could, it would be $499 to start with, add $99 to the maintenance fee per year and $99 everytime I wanted to turn a week into StarPoints. So I am better off with RCI as long as Vistana will accept it.

Thank you for your time to answer my questions.

Ana

IF Starwood will requalify your father's timeshare for you on the terms you describe, you should consider it very carefully. You would have StarOptions (different from StarPoints) which give you the ability to exchange internally within the Starwood system at no cost, i.e. no RCI membership, no exchange fees, only the $99 annual addition to the maintenance fee).

You should check out the SVN advice article for details: http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

 

[ak4ever]

IF Starwood will requalify your father's timeshare for you on the terms you describe, you should consider it very carefully. You would have StarOptions (different from StarPoints) which give you the ability to exchange internally within the Starwood system at no cost, i.e. no RCI membership, no exchange fees, only the $99 annual addition to the maintenance fee).

You should check out the SVN advice article for details: http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

Very helpful, Thank you!!!!

 

[sharktzu]

New changes to re-qualificaiton policy?

I spoke with a sales rep at WMH yesterday who has seemed to be a straight shooter with me in the past. He said that the re-qualification policy from SVN has changed in the last month. According to the new guildlines/rules:
1. No re-qualification of mandatory units
2. Developer purchased units must be equal to the unit being re-qualified; 2bedroom EOY platinum for 2 bedroom EOY platinum.
3. In order to re-qualify a resale unit, the developer purchase must exceed $20,000 in sales price.

I don't know for certain if all of this is true, but IMHO it seems likely. You folks like Duke that pulled the re-qualifications early were smart to do so. With the changes in elite benefits and the additional costs, I'm just not sure its worth it to become 5*.

 

[Bill4728]

I spoke with a sales rep at WMH yesterday who has seemed to be a straight shooter with me in the past. He said that the re-qualification policy from SVN has changed in the last month. According to the new guildlines/rules:
1. No re-qualification of mandatory units
2. Developer purchased units must be equal to the unit being re-qualified; 2bedroom EOY platinum for 2 bedroom EOY platinum.
3. In order to re-qualify a resale unit, the developer purchase must exceed $20,000 in sales price.

I don't know for certain if all of this is true, but IMHO it seems likely. You folks like Duke that pulled the re-qualifications early were smart to do so. With the changes in elite benefits and the additional costs, I'm just not sure its worth it to become 5*.

I'm not saying that your source isn't a straight shooter but why would starwood not requalify a mandatory resale? It seems to me that it would be even better for Starwood to requalify these over voluntary resorts.
Maybe the info was :
for Voluntary units to be requalified you must:
2. Developer purchased units must be equal to the unit being re-qualified; 2bedroom EOY platinum for 2 bedroom EOY platinum.
3. In order to re-qualify a resale unit, the developer purchase must exceed $20,000 in sales price.

And these rules don't apply to a mandatory requalify.??

 

[sharktzu]

I said the same thing. He said it didn't make any sense to him either, but that the rules were the rules.

 

[Bill4728]

Starwood corporate input needed.

Boy, it would sure be nice if we could get a straight answer about these kind of things from the corporate people at Starwood.

 

[Kagehitokiri]

removed, sorry

 

[Larry315]

I find it frustrating trying to learn what the rules are for requalifying a resale.

It seems a matter of who says what: A salesman says one thing, his director says another, and TUG may or may not agree.

I am afraid to buy a resale timeshare for the purpose of requalifying it without access to the written corporate rules.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I find it frustrating trying to learn what the rules are for requalifying a resale.

It seems a matter of who says what: A salesman says one thing, his director says another, and TUG may or may not agree.

I am afraid to buy a resale timeshare for the purpose of requalifying it without access to the written corporate rules.

I highly doubt if there are stated rules that SVO/SVN would share.

As someone who successfully went thru this process (see thread mentioned above) - I would not buy resale with the sole intent of requalifying. I would buy resale because that is what you want to own - the benefits of Elite status are not worth the extra cost in buying from SVO in most cases.

My advice (and others) is to buy (resale) where you want as your Home Resort. At this point - if you decide to go thru the requal process (like we did), then work out a deal with the salesperson that includes the requal - because only then will you know whether or not it will happen (because it is a moving target). Also, make sure it is 100% on your terms and not theirs.

Remember that they are in the business of selling TSs and salepeople (with their trophies on their selves) sometimes will do a lot to get in their quota - even if it bending certain so-called rules.

If you do decide to go thru with it - make sure your follow duke's and negma's (and I guess mine) advice above.

 

[vacationtime1]

I spoke with a sales rep at WMH yesterday who has seemed to be a straight shooter with me in the past. He said that the re-qualification policy from SVN has changed in the last month. According to the new guildlines/rules:
1. No re-qualification of mandatory units
2. Developer purchased units must be equal to the unit being re-qualified; 2bedroom EOY platinum for 2 bedroom EOY platinum.
3. In order to re-qualify a resale unit, the developer purchase must exceed $20,000 in sales price.

Less than a month ago, at WKORV, I was told that it did not matter whether the newly purchased unit was EY or EOY; what mattered was the purchase price, which had to be over $40,000. But by the end of the sales pitch, they would have requalified an annual mandatory unit (Kierland) if I purchased an EOY WKORV-N ocean front for $37,450. I passed.

At one point in the discussion, the salesperson left to talk to a supervisor; later, the supervisor left to talk to corporate. Obviously that was part of their negotiation strategy, but just as obviously, Starwood's rule on the subject is that there is no rule on the subject. Requalification is always a subject for negotiation.

 

[rockdocs]

Initial Purchase

Can this be done on an initial purchase thru SVO and qualify for all the exchange benefits?
How is it done, We like Westin Properties.

 

[saluki]

Can this be done on an initial purchase thru SVO and qualify for all the exchange benefits?
How is it done, We like Westin Properties.

You need to purchase a resale unit first & then requalify that purchase with a developer unit. The first post in this thread lays out the process in great detail.

 

[ck1]

I spoke with a sales rep at WMH yesterday who has seemed to be a straight shooter with me in the past. He said that the re-qualification policy from SVN has changed in the last month. According to the new guildlines/rules:
1. No re-qualification of mandatory units
2. Developer purchased units must be equal to the unit being re-qualified; 2bedroom EOY platinum for 2 bedroom EOY platinum.
3. In order to re-qualify a resale unit, the developer purchase must exceed $20,000 in sales price.

I don't know for certain if all of this is true, but IMHO it seems likely. You folks like Duke that pulled the re-qualifications early were smart to do so. With the changes in elite benefits and the additional costs, I'm just not sure its worth it to become 5*.

My sales person just confirmed this post in a e-mail except he told me the developer purchase must exceed $40,000. He also said it could change again for better or worse.

I already went through the process once with him and it went perfect. I was thinking about it again down the road so I was just checking with him on the changes.

CK

 

[shockdoct]

With all of these changing rules (40k developer purchase....yow!.just buy kierland or something) and the process becoming much more difficult...any chance the mandatory resales start to go up in price?