To the OP, I would simply ask "what is your ultimate goal of ownership?" Sit down and determine if destination travel is the right thing for you. If the answer is yes, step back & take your time examining
how you could best achieve your goals. There are a lot of things in play with MVC at this moment in time such as MR devaluation so any potential buyer should look closely and carefully at what is going on before buying developer. Do the "what-if" calculus of how you might use your weeks. Work through all of the likely scenerios you might choose and see where you are most comfortable. Resale could indeed be a viable alternative.
. . . Especially with the changes both Marriott has made and airlines have made to their FF programs. What seemed like a good idea in 2001 hasn't worked out quite as well as we had hoped. I will never buy based on a promise which can be changed at their whim again . . .
Let's put a little perspective upon Doug's purchase.
He buys developer in 2001 when Ocean Pointe is a new resort in the early stages of development. Better question to ask is what does MVC sell a silver 3BR OF unit for
today? Before others jump in with their hatchets, let's acknowledge that the present market conditions make it very difficult for anyone to set a rock-hard selling price -- all the more reason for any buyer to beware. But until recently, there was indeed a definitive developer price for that week.
My point is that Doug has enjoyed 7 years of ownership for the cost of his MFs. There's an aesthetic element involved here which derives from the time and the experiences as well. The other aspect Doug notes is the value derived from the purchase incentives which one can indeed subtract from the purchase cost if you're trying to establish a bottom line. The key here is how you utilize the points you receive as a purchase incentive.
What's really going on at this moment is that the financial market seizure which is locking up capital also affects folks trying to make decisions about timeshare. Thus far, Marriott has responded by sticking to developer prices ( and watching sales nearly evaporate ) whilst also allowing resale inventory to basically set it's own price by eschewing ROFR. In truth, it's about the only move that Marriott can make at the moment. It's going to be some many months at least before anyone finally gets an idea of when consumers will once again return to discretionary purchases and at what price.
For those of us who own MVC, it's a simple matter of pay your MF and utilize your weeks in one of the 4 ways that developer ownership allows ( 3 ways for resale folks ). In essence it's timeshare 101 of purchase where you want to visit and develop a usage strategy.
I think that the "sticky" part of this MVC situation revolves more around how long one has owned MVC. Those folks who came in several years ago and purchase developer likely feel a bit more comfortable since their purchase price is lower. More recent purchasers will feel more angst towards MVC because the entire developer market has seized up. It's natural to fear that the bottom will drop out, but IMO, it's too early to predict what is going to happen with developer pricing. In truth, this subprime mess ( and tumbling real estate prices ) is more acute in certain parts of the country than others. We timeshare folks simply got to sit back and wait and watch how this larger debacle plays out before any of us can come to a defining conclusion about what's going to happen with our timeshare resorts.
I'm more optimistic that things will sort themselves out and that the effect upon our resorts will vary according to the region and the market around the resort ( an ocean front resort will always be an ocean front resort & demand and supply will indeed assert itself . . . "when" is the great unknown ). In the interim, we can only wait and enjoy utilizing our weeks.
Folks pondering a purchase simply need do their homework and check it several times before pulling the timeshare trigger.
Barry