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First time Buy - What to Buy ? Did I made mistake by skipping ? MVC or WVC ?

myworld

TUG Member
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Hello Everyone

I have been doing research on timeshare since more than 6 months and just attended Westin Lagunamar TS presentation last week. I was offered amazing offer which sounds to good to be true and it was very hard to say no. My friend who attended similar presentations and he bought it. It does seem like he good good deal and I am having second thoughts why I didn’t buy it ???

But since all the time I spend online researching last half year, everyone said do not buy at developers. So I think I stick to the plan and didn’t buy it. But second thoughts….
My friend bought this deal:

Westin Lagunamar - annual - 1 Bedroom - oven view
- 44,000 Star options annually
  • 88,000 bonus star option points to use next year
  • $5,000 Westin gift certificate to use at any hotels
  • No annual HOA fee till 2025
  • Bonvey Gold status
  • I.I. Membership
All above for $17,000 plus closing = $18,200.

What you guys think ??? Did I made mistake by skipping this offer ??

Is it still good to buy resell for first time buyer like me ???


—————-

I am thinking to buy MVC Abound/ club points OR Westin VC - Vistana VNC. But extremely confused with which membership to buy with this new Abound program now.

Here is my Tug Newbie’s Survey

1) Is there a vacation destination you wish to visit most of the time or on a regular basis? if so where?

- Beaches. We love beaches. Aruba is my love, Hawaii is still to visit but I am sure we gone love it, Cancún is not bad. Also like to visit Europe and Asia but I know options are limited.

2) Do you want to visit your home resort at least half the time, or do you want to trade more than half the time?

  • To tell you true, we like to visit new places so we will be trading more than visiting home resort every year. Home resort may be every 2-3 years.
3) What are your 5 top trade destinations?

  • Aruba, Hawaii,, Orlando for Disney trips every few years, Europe and any other family friendly places , Cancun

4) How many people do you usually travel with - total, including yourself?
  • 6 people
5) Can you travel any time, or are you locked into the school schedule?

- School schedule locked for 10 years at least


6) Can you make firm plans 12 or more mos. in advance?

  • yes
7) Can you vacation for a full week at a time?

  • Yes


8) What level of accommodations do you prefer on a scale of 1 to 5 stars?

  • 4 to 5 stars


9) How much can you afford to spend upfront, without financing?

  • 20K if needed 25K


10) How much can you afford to spend every year for a maintenance fee that will come due right after Christmas, and increase each year?
  • $ 1500 to $2500 range

11) Are you a detail oriented planner?

  • Yes


12) Do you understand that once you buy a timeshare, it may be very difficult to sell or give away, and you are responsible for all fees, until you do?
  • Yes
 

rjwehr

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Messages
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Location
The Lone Star State
Resorts Owned
Mountainside @Granby Ranch,
Landmark Holiday Beach-PCB,
Inverness @ New Braunfels
I don't think you made a mistake. That deal, if not a better one, will be there if you ever want to go back and give it a shot. Our timeshares are weeks based, so I don't have as much info on points systems. However, I will say that whenever the economy takes a downturn, that can be the best time to buy resale. We got some of our best deals (ski-in/ski out in the mountains and Beachfront in Florida) after the economy tanked in 2009. The folks that no longer want to pay maintenance due to uncertainty will be trying to unload the ongoing expense of annual maintenance. Additionally, most timeshares send the bill for the following year's maintenance in November-December; this also causes folks to try and sell their timeshares. It may be a buyer's market for you soon.

As a side note; you may want to post your questions about the advantages/disadvantages of each system in their respective message boards here on TUG. Many of the members here are willing to share their experiences and what to watch out for.

Good luck.
 

jmhpsu93

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
1,764
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1,147
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274
Location
Maryland, USA
Resorts Owned
MVC Abound Points
MVC Grande Vista (x2)
MVC Cypress Harbour (x2)
MVC Harbour Lake (x2)
Golden Shores (Mexico)
I also don't think that you missed out on anything. The 44K unit is a gold season week at WLR (the abbreviation for Langunamar), so that limits you to those weeks 1–4, 18–23, 36–43, 48–50...do those work for you? Those 44K points will only get you 3-4 weekday nights in higher seasons. I also believe they're selling you Adventuras, not an actual week. Please look at the FAQs on ownership in the Vistana section for what that means.

Looking at resales for WLR they're listing annual 1 BRs gold season for under $2K.
 

pedro47

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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To the OP, can you get this offer in writing?
 

myworld

TUG Member
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I don't think you made a mistake. That deal, if not a better one, will be there if you ever want to go back and give it a shot. Our timeshares are weeks based, so I don't have as much info on points systems. However, I will say that whenever the economy takes a downturn, that can be the best time to buy resale. We got some of our best deals (ski-in/ski out in the mountains and Beachfront in Florida) after the economy tanked in 2009. The folks that no longer want to pay maintenance due to uncertainty will be trying to unload the ongoing expense of annual maintenance. Additionally, most timeshares send the bill for the following year's maintenance in November-December; this also causes folks to try and sell their timeshares. It may be a buyer's market for you soon.

As a side note; you may want to post your questions about the advantages/disadvantages of each system in their respective message boards here on TUG. Many of the members here are willing to share their experiences and what to watch out for.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for your advice. I will keep out for this Month and Next month for sells if they come. I will try to post my question in each board to see what they say. So far it looks like Vistana owners not happy with Abound program from reading here. Club members doesn't seem to care much about the changes. Let's see what other thinks. Thank you

I also don't think that you missed out on anything. The 44K unit is a gold season week at WLR (the abbreviation for Langunamar), so that limits you to those weeks 1–4, 18–23, 36–43, 48–50...do those work for you? Those 44K points will only get you 3-4 weekday nights in higher seasons. I also believe they're selling you Adventuras, not an actual week. Please look at the FAQs on ownership in the Vistana section for what that means.

Looking at resales for WLR they're listing annual 1 BRs gold season for under $2K.

Thank you for the information. Gold week seems like not going to be best idea for our family as we have to stay with School schedule. So I am confused with what WLR sold them. They did said 44,000 star options. They did not hear anything about Adventuras. WLR reps told them they can use this points to book any 90 Abound resorts anytime. They can use II to book any resorts in II exchange without trading their points in II Which i am very surprised about.
I was looking resell market and i do see 1BRs goes anywhere from $500 to $11K on redweek and here.

I am just worried about difference between what we can do with Resell purchases and what we cannot. Can we trade the Points/week we buy in VSN and/or Abound network Club points with resell? I think we have to pay out of pocket to join II exchange with resell purchase to use it Trade points for other resorts in compare to buying from Resort directly.

Thank you

To the OP, can you get this offer in writing?

They did not let me take picture of everything in writing which he wrote on paper. My Friend who bought, i do think he has picture of everything they draw on paper. But i did told me to make sure everything is in signed contract and not just on paper. But i am not sure what is inside his contract now after they bought it.
Thank you
 

HudsHut

TUG Review Crew
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Here's the points chart.
Westin Lagunamar is on page 10 of 14
44,000 is not very much in the Vistana system. It gets you a 1br Premium during Gold Weeks.
For a 2 br, you need 148,100. That also gets you a 2br in Maui. Westin Ka'anapali is on page 8 of 14.

For the price your friend paid, you could get a 2 bedroom, Platinum, Westin Kierland resale, which provides148,100 Star Options annually. Then use those StarOptions to reserve Lagunamar or Ka'anapali

The deal you described above sounds like it could be an 88,000 every ODD year. That would explain why there is no maintenance fee due until 2025. It was all paid in 2023. (To my knowledge, they do not waive maintenance fees.)
 
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