Getting feet wet with a SVV purchase

[toedipper]

Hi all,

My wife and I are looking into getting our first time share. After doing a bit of research, we were thinking that the best way to get started would be to just dip our toes in the water and and get access to a cost effective package. We like the SPG brand, so were thinking of getting Sheraton Vistana Villages (Key West or Bella). There seem to be some EOY, 2/2 (prime season) that sell for about $1000 with about $600 in MF, that provide 81,000 StarOptions (every other year).
Off the top, I should probably say, that we have little interest in actually going to Orlando, and are mainly thinking that the opportunity above represents a cheap way on getting into a timeshare with mandatory StarOptions.

1) In the short term, we'd like to go to Hawaii, so if we can Borrow from 2017, we'd like to go sometime before August in 2016. We're flexible on dates. So my first question is, would this be a "doable" trade using StarOptions? (Room size doesn't matter.)

2) Thinking about future years, we'd probably trade via Interval International (II). Destinations in mind include, Key West, Miami, San Diego, Costa Rica. Would a SVV trade via II to those destinations be realistic? (Again, room size doesn't really matter to us.)

3) If for some reason we didn't use the week every two years, I'd like to get a sense of how easy it would be to recoup our MF costs (~$1200 for a week). Can anyone comment on what the going rate we should expect when trying to rent out a 2/2 at SVV for a week?

Thanks in advance for any help and tips!
-Darryl

 

[paluamalia]

SVV toe dipping

Hi Darryl:

i would suggest that $1,000 is a bit high, you might be able to get that EOY for $0.00 if you pay closing costs. I'd try that first, or low ball an offer. Buy direct from owners....We have 2 37,000, 1 89,000 and one 67,000.
81,000 would get a one bedroom at WKORV, but not until 8 months out. I think only off-season, January, etc.

I have traded my 37,000 contract into Harborside, Westin kierland and Westin Palm Springs. In all cases I went off season and was upgraded from a studio to a full one bedroom. Harborside in Nov., Kierland in early Dec., and Palm Springs in May. We are 2 and a studio works, most of the Starwoods have W/D and patios or decks.
Good luck, don't pay too much!

 

[LisaRex]

Make sure that you look over the new StarOptions chart to figure out how many SOs you'd like to target. If a studio or 1 bdrm will suffice, then 81,000 will work nicely for you.

WSJ has bumped up the SOs for platinum season and WKORV has upped their requirement for Ocean Front.

 

[DeniseM]

*Please note - you can't make an Ocean Front reservation with Staroptions. Staroption reservations are always "floating" - unassigned reservations, assigned by the resort at check-in.

3) If for some reason we didn't use the week every two years, I'd like to get a sense of how easy it would be to recoup our MF costs (~$1200 for a week). Can anyone comment on what the going rate we should expect when trying to rent out a 2/2 at SVV for a week?

Florida is waaaay overbuilt with timeshares, so Florida timeshares are not strong rentals - to be quite honest with you, you will be lucky to cover your maintenance fees.

 

[paluamalia]

Another thought - II Getaways

Once you belong to II you can book getaways in addition to exchanges...that works very well for us...we can usually add on a week or two..we booked a 1 bedroom (large) in early December for about $300 for 7 nights.

I THINK you II membership is free once you have the unit, I may be wrong on resales, if so someone will correct it!

 

[lizap]

1. Kauai, using SOs is very doable. Maui is doable also, but harder during the winter.

2. Have never used my Westin for II exchanges, but speaking from my Hyatt exchanges, I have found II exchanges into Florida doable, but you need to be flexible on your dates. Winter will be very difficult. Need to put in a request for the desired resorts/dates.

3. Others have answered #3.

Hi all,

My wife and I are looking into getting our first time share. After doing a bit of research, we were thinking that the best way to get started would be to just dip our toes in the water and and get access to a cost effective package. We like the SPG brand, so were thinking of getting Sheraton Vistana Villages (Key West or Bella). There seem to be some EOY, 2/2 (prime season) that sell for about $1000 with about $600 in MF, that provide 81,000 StarOptions (every other year).
Off the top, I should probably say, that we have little interest in actually going to Orlando, and are mainly thinking that the opportunity above represents a cheap way on getting into a timeshare with mandatory StarOptions.

1) In the short term, we'd like to go to Hawaii, so if we can Borrow from 2017, we'd like to go sometime before August in 2016. We're flexible on dates. So my first question is, would this be a "doable" trade using StarOptions? (Room size doesn't matter.)

2) Thinking about future years, we'd probably trade via Interval International (II). Destinations in mind include, Key West, Miami, San Diego, Costa Rica. Would a SVV trade via II to those destinations be realistic? (Again, room size doesn't really matter to us.)

3) If for some reason we didn't use the week every two years, I'd like to get a sense of how easy it would be to recoup our MF costs (~$1200 for a week). Can anyone comment on what the going rate we should expect when trying to rent out a 2/2 at SVV for a week?

Thanks in advance for any help and tips!
-Darryl

 

[LisaRex]

*Please note - you can't make an Ocean Front reservation with Staroptions. Staroption reservations are always "floating" - unassigned reservations, assigned by the resort at check-in.

Beginning in 2017, you can reserve OF with SOs. Did you miss this entire thread?

Starwood just announced that effective in 2017, ocean front units at WKORV and WKORVN will be increasing their StarOption and StarPoint values. The new StarOption values for 2BR / 1BR / Studio will be 176,700 / 95,700 / 81,000 and the StarPoint values will be 95,418 / 51,678 / 43,740.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1794330&postcount=2

 

[DeniseM]

Beginning in 2017, you can reserve OF with SOs. Did you miss this entire thread?



http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1794330&postcount=2

It doesn't say that you can reserve OF with Staroptions - it "asks" that question:

I wonder if this means that OF units will be reserveable as a separate category in the StarOption exchange period.

 

[okwiater]

It doesn't say that you can reserve OF with Staroptions - it "asks" that question.

Starwood has been doing away with the "oddball" StarOptions categories which exchange out for different values than they exchange in. I don't see how they could give 176,700 StarOptions for a unit that somebody else can subsequently reserve for 148,100 StarOptions.

 

[okwiater]

It doesn't say that you can reserve OF with Staroptions - it "asks" that question:

Also, based on the StarOption chart DavidnRobin posted, it appears that 3BRs will all be Oceanfront -- in which case, you can certainly reserve a guaranteed OF view if you go with that unit type.

 

[ValleyGirl]

Ebay VV

We purchased a 2br Plat or Gold? for 900 plus 450 inclosing.
Later sold in an upgrade and received 18,000. Of course you have to come up with new money but you can upgrade for essentially 1/2 price

For others considering upgrade be aware they don't take back Lagunamar!

 

[toedipper]

Thanks for the advise so far!

Given what were looking to do, get low cost access to StarOptions and a timeshare that would trade decently on II, do you think that SVV is the best option?

 

[sjsharkie]

Thanks for the advise so far!

Given what were looking to do, get low cost access to StarOptions and a timeshare that would trade decently on II, do you think that SVV is the best option?

Yes, getting in with SVV mandatory properties is the up front lowest cost access to SOs.

I own at WKV (best mf ratio but much higher cost up front) and SVV. I think SVV plat properties are the way to go.

While you might luck into a free SVV mandatory plat EOY unit, $0 is not a realistic price in this market. Market price is higher than that currently.

-ryan

 

[DeniseM]

Also, based on the StarOption chart DavidnRobin posted, it appears that 3BRs will all be Oceanfront -- in which case, you can certainly reserve a guaranteed OF view if you go with that unit type.

Yes - but that's at Nanea, and 3 bdm. only - correct?

This is the post I'm responding to - it references WKORV-N/S, not Nanea. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything stating that one can reserve ocean front at WKORV-N/S with Staroptions.

Saying that OF owners will get more Staroptions, is not the same as saying others will be able to reserve OF with Staroptions. If I'm mistaken, please enlighten me.

Beginning in 2017, you can reserve OF with SOs. Did you miss this entire thread?

Quote:
Starwood just announced that effective in 2017, ocean front units at WKORV and WKORVN will be increasing their StarOption and StarPoint values. The new StarOption values for 2BR / 1BR / Studio will be 176,700 / 95,700 / 81,000 and the StarPoint values will be 95,418 / 51,678 / 43,740.

 

[Rsauer3473]

Last year I purchased two SVV 2 bdrm units in Bella and Key West (67,100 SOs each) for $1000 total. I offered $1000 on one in Bella and posted a note on the BB as to whether it was a good deal. Within an hour I got a message from another Tug member offering a similar unit in Key West. We've been using the units through SVO for WKORV studios where we already own, but have been renting them. We closed the sales through LT Transfers at less than $200 each.

 

[okwiater]

Yes - but that's at Nanea, and 3 bdm. only - correct?

Yes, that's correct. Only the 3BRs are guaranteed to be OF (based on the notional StarOption chart, which I am sure is subject to change since the building isn't built yet).

This is the post I'm responding to - it references WKORV-N/S, not Nanea. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything stating that one can reserve ocean front at WKORV-N/S with Staroptions.

Saying that OF owners will get more Staroptions, is not the same as saying others will be able to reserve OF with Staroptions. If I'm mistaken, please enlighten me.

I believe that is correct; however, I seriously doubt that the cost to trade in will be different than the cost to trade out in this case. It would break the precedent set at WSJ, and would also create an odd situation in which all Hawaii 3BRs would be guaranteed to be Nanea OF units, but a 2BR would have a "random" view. Also, I've noticed that the villa finder for WSJ will specifically show a Coral Vista 3BR Lockoff unit as a Lockoff -- rather than a dedicated 3BR -- even though they are the same number of SOs.

But... as you say, all of the above is speculation at this point. Not unfounded speculation, but speculation nonetheless...

 

[SMHarman]

Yes - but that's at Nanea, and 3 bdm. only - correct?

This is the post I'm responding to - it references WKORV-N/S, not Nanea. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything stating that one can reserve ocean front at WKORV-N/S with Staroptions.

Saying that OF owners will get more Staroptions, is not the same as saying others will be able to reserve OF with Staroptions. If I'm mistaken, please enlighten me.

But the system needs balance. You can't create SO out of thin air. If you give owners more SO for their week. Correspondingly it costs more to book into the same week; WSJ is a good comparison here.

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk

 

[DeniseM]

Time will tell, but I will be really surprised if you are going to be able to reserve WKORV-N/S Ocean Front with Staroptions.

I believe Staroption reservations will continue to be Floating View reservations.

I think Starwood wants those OF units for their rental pool - allowing people to book them with Staroptions would limit the number of OF units they can hoover up.

 

[LisaRex]

Time will tell, but I will be really surprised if you are going to be able to reserve WKORV-N/S Ocean Front with Staroptions.

I'd be really surprised if you COULDN'T reserve OF unit with SOs. Other timeshare systems charge more points for upgraded views.

I think Starwood wants those OF units for their rental pool - allowing people to book them with Staroptions would limit the number of OF units they can hoover up.

They are first and foremost in the timeshare business. What better way to sell more TSs to a plethora of customers who own 67,100/81,000/148,100 units than to say, "Ah, but for 176,700 SOs, you can reserve OF."

 

[DeniseM]

I'd be really surprised if you COULDN'T reserve OF unit with SOs. Other timeshare systems charge more points for upgraded views.



They are first and foremost in the timeshare business. What better way to sell more TSs to a plethora of customers who own 67,100/81,000/148,100 units than to say, "Ah, but for 176,700 SOs, you can reserve OF."

My prediction is that they will do that - but only at the new resort. Not at WKORV-N/S.

*I think it would be a major mistake for Starwood to market the availability of reserving OF Villas with Staroptions, because the demand would FAR exceed the supply, to the point of fraud.

Similar to when they promised all Elite owners automatic upgrades, and then had to back peddle - but on a larger scale.

 

[Helios]

IMHO, I think that based on availability Starwood will allow Ocean Front reservations for the new/larger amount of SOs at 8 months.

I can't believe the OF units will reset in value at 8 months and that Starwood would just give away OF units to "upgraded" owners who used 148,100 SOs. That would be just too generous...

Also, my understanding is that Starwood cannot rent a unit that they don't own...isn't that the case?

Lastly, wouldn't Starwood want to attract new people and wow them with an OF resevation so they can see the new shiny resort that is for sale...

 

[canesfan]

I can see them renting OF at 8 months. Just as we have to rent our unit that we own between 12-8, we won't be able to rent OF unless you already own. If you have the options available at 8 months and there is inventory (I believe there won't be much if any) then you can rent one.

 

[DeniseM]

I can't believe the OF units will reset in value at 8 months and that Starwood would just give away OF units to "upgraded" owners who used 148,100 SOs. That would be just too generous...

I don't understand this statement - ALL Staroption reservations are floating view, and Starwood has complete authority to assign any unit they want, so there is no logical reason for them to "give away" Ocean Front units now, or in the future.

Many people are assuming that Starwood is going to start allowing people to make Oceanfront Staroption reservations, because they changed the number of Staroptions that owners RECEIVE. I don't that that's what's going to happen. I believe they changed it so that there would be parity between owners at the 3 Maui resorts - in the number of Staroptions they RECEIVE, not to allow Ocean Front Staroption reservations.

Also, my understanding is that Starwood cannot rent a unit that they don't own...isn't that the case?

Not at all - at 60 days before check-in, Starwood can and does confiscate any unreserved owner inventory and puts it in their (Starwood) rental pool, and puts the funds in their (Starwood's) pocket. That's how Starwood wrote the terms...

So, it is in their best interest to leave Staroptions reservations as floating view reservations. That way, they are not obligated to use Ocean Front units for Staroptions exchanges, and they can assign any unit they want to Staroption exchangers. Thereby allowing them to Hoover up and rent any Ocean Front units that were converted to Staroptions...

 

[Chrispee]

Not to derail this thread, but would purchasing a SVV mandatory with the expectation of using the SOs to get WPORV in March (weeks 12 and/or 13) be realistic? Am I correct in assuming that Christmas or New Years would be unlikely

 

[DeniseM]

Not to derail this thread, but would purchasing a SVV mandatory with the expectation of using the SOs to get WPORV in March (weeks 12 and/or 13) be realistic? Am I correct in assuming that Christmas or New Years would be unlikely

It's easy to get a WPORV reservation right at 8 mos.

It's not possible to reserve Christmas/New Year's with Staroptions - Christmas and New Years were sold as Event Weeks at the Hawaii resorts, and only the owners of those weeks may reserve them. Dear Old Starwood gets any inventory that owners don't use.