Good deal or should I rescind?

[DannyTS]

I am also curious if Sheraton Flex is worth less than the Westin Flex programs since the properties are not quite at the same level for the most part.

This is what people believe. When I think about it though, there may be another reason as well. I assume that a lot of the Sheraton Flex contracts are sold in Orlando and the financial quality of the buyers may not be the same as elsewhere because they may not be at the same stage in life. There may just be more younger families that visit Orlando and they may have not accumulated enough assets to justify a long term and expensive commitment. Those would certainly be more inclined to exit sooner rather than later.

 

[jabberwocky]

the problem with Sheraton Flex is not only that there are always new contracts on the market, they also do not seem to move and they just pile up. On the offer side you may be right about Aventuras, not so many because it is a newer program. But what was on the market disappeared quickly. The one you were referring to was sold
View attachment 17532

I think Aventuras has usage and rental value in the low season especially when you buy resale (no VSN fee) and this is why you do not see them more often for sale. If you want to rent out a 1 bdr gold season at Lagunamar, your MF would be $690 (vs $930 if you own a week) so you are probably going to squeeze a decent profit especially in January. I would not buy gold season at Lagunamar because it does not suit our calendar but if I were in the market for one I would certainly prefer Aventuras to Lagunamar gold season.

I've seen a few SFlex contracts move fairly quickly. Unfortunately sellers on eBay haven't quite figured out how to move them. The biggest problems that I see with most eBay SFlex listings are:

1) Seller obviously doesn't know the product so you don't know what you are buying (says it comes with StarOptions or includes resorts that aren't in SFlex)

2) Weird sized contracts that don't match up nicely to the weeks points value. For example, 104,100; 25,800; 220,000 (I think this was was relisted - previously advertised as two 110,000 contracts which would correspond to the MF); 74,000; 162,000 (which again I think is two 81,000 contracts put together). If it matched up to a weeks value on a single contract (i.e., 81,000; 148,100) I can see better usage possibilites, but 162,000 is an awkward amount to use unless you want two weeks straight in a 2BR at SVR, SVV or 1BR at SDO.

3) Sellers who want reimbursement of VSN fees for the current year, even though SFlex if voluntary and won't be a part of VSN.

4) Demanding a higher price than the market can sustain. You're not going to get $499 for an SFlex contract when others are giving away contracts which include a $250 prepaid Visa.

 

[jabberwocky]

to add to @CaliSunshine for example if they put 2 Lagunamar weeks in the Aventuras trust one gold and one platinum, the MF will add to approx $1960. They contribute to the trust 44,000 + 81,000 points = 125,000 points. The trust will have an average of $0.01568 which is lower than the gold season but significantly higher (per point) than platinum. This is why they compare with gold, to make it look more attractive but in fact it is a blend of the 2 seasons.

I think this was actually the key selling feature for SFlex early on. "Hey, do you hate paying $1200/year for a 2BR SDO Gold week worth 56,300 SO. For only $28,000 you can get a 81,000 Flex contract that will let you book into a 2BR Gold-Plus week or a 1BR in Maui any time of the year. Best part is your MF will be about the same. We'll also give you credit for what you paid for your original contract!"

When Plat-plus weeks are nearly 3X the value of the Gold weeks for the same MF - it's easy to see why people would trade in for Flex, even when the MF are higher than a plat-plus week.

 

[jabberwocky]

I am also curious if Sheraton Flex is worth less than the Westin Flex programs since the properties are not quite at the same level for the most part.

While this may be part of it, I think the value propositions are completely different.

Until recently, SFlex didn't have Hawaii available to book at the 12 month mark (it is now available for Sheraton Kauai). If you wanted Maui you would have to wait until 8 months to book with SO, and on a SO basis SFlex is more expensive than owning a mandatory SVV or WKV plat-plus 2BR. If you are going to Maui every year the MF for OF is about the same as a WKORV-N with a lower resale buy-in cost than developer. As a result in your 8-12 month home resort period you were limited largely to resorts that are fairly easy to book into within 8 months, so home resort priority doesn't matter.

With WFlex the MF are more expensive than owning a home week in Maui or WKV; however, you get much more flexibilty, plus you get home resort booking priviledges at 12 months. Maui is one of the more sought after SO bookings and you can jump ahead of those wanting to trade a cheap WKV SO week for WKORV at 8 months by booking at 12 months (even resale WFlex can do this - you just can't book in WSJ, Mexico or Sheraton resorts as a home week).

 

[margolism]

Is WSJ part of ANY of the flex programs? They seem like the odd man out.

 

[controller1]

Is WSJ part of ANY of the flex programs? They seem like the odd man out.

Westin St. John and Harborside at Atlantis are the Vistana resorts not in any flex program.

 

[CPNY]

Westin St. John and Harborside at Atlantis are the Vistana resorts not in any flex program.

It’s interesting that they aren’t in any flex program. They can still be used to be booked via star options of the flex was purchased via developer plan at 8 Mos. But on resale one can never book using flex star options.