Great News from the Maui Schooner

[Kauai Kid]

No increases in maintenance fees for 2010!!!!!!!!: and a 3% cash discount if paid by Jan 1st.

l BR every year association of apt owners 471.82 or 405.29 with disc
1 BR every year Resort Owners Association 412.36 or 399.99 with disc
Total AOAO+ROA=884.18 OR 805.28

2 BR every year AOAO 544.77 or 528.43 with disc
2 br every year ROA 504.54 or 489.40 with disc
Total AOAO+ROA=1049.31 OR 1017.83

Three cheers for the board of directors,

Sterling

 

[BevL]

$544 for a two bedroom in Hawaii? Wow, that's really good.

 

[Kauai Kid]

Forgot to total them up. My wife says it is no wonder I have trouble balancing the checkbook.:hysterical:

\Sterling

 

[BevL]

Ah, that makes more sense.

 

[LisaRex]

That's great news! I dread opening my MF letter.

 

[AKE]

That is pricey! We are at the Schooner right now and while it is impeccable re maintenance, I would think that there will be increasing maintenance fees in the future as the furniture, cupboards, bathroom etc etc are starting to show their age. The great thing is the free internet (even in the rooms) and the free parking.

 

[nazclk]

Schooner

all in do time, it is a great resort and I love staying there. I guess that's why I own there.

 

[Kauai Kid]

That is pricey! We are at the Schooner right now and while it is impeccable re maintenance, I would think that there will be increasing maintenance fees in the future as the furniture, cupboards, bathroom etc etc are starting to show their age. The great thing is the free internet (even in the rooms) and the free parking.

I've never been to a timeshare that didn't have free parking. Don't tell me that now they will start charging for parking.

Sterling

 

[Kauai Kid]

That is pricey! We are at the Schooner right now and while it is impeccable re maintenance, I would think that there will be increasing maintenance fees in the future as the furniture, cupboards, bathroom etc etc are starting to show their age. The great thing is the free internet (even in the rooms) and the free parking.

"Pricey"??Compared to where else on Maui?? The owners are considering approving a special assessment to upgrade. Check out the upgraded unit in the B building (where the lobby is).

Sterling

 

[AKE]

Kaanapali (formerly Embassy and now Diamond) charges parking whether you use valet or not. I think that it is now up to $14/day (used to be $7 with Sunterra).
From my perspective, once a maintenance fee gets to be in the $1000 range it is no longer cost effective. Unless you have to travel in prime season like Xmas or New Years week, you can rent a timeshare in Hawaii for less. I just saw the Shearwater on RCI in the $900/week range a few weeks ago and there are many others.

 

[DeniseM]

That is pricey! We are at the Schooner right now and while it is impeccable re maintenance, I would think that there will be increasing maintenance fees in the future as the furniture, cupboards, bathroom etc etc are starting to show their age. The great thing is the free internet (even in the rooms) and the free parking.

I don't think it's high at all - the Westin and the Marriott are more than twice that much! And you really cannot compare rental prices between Maui and Kauai. Maui has higher demand and higher rent, across the board.

 

[AKE]

I dont think that the Schooner is even close to a Marriott or Westin (and this of course would account for the lower maintenance fees). At the same time, if I can rent for less than the maintenance fees (and this is the same almost everywhere now, not just in Hawaii), then it makes no sense to own a timeshare anymore. Timeshare ownership is not supposed to be the cheapest method, but at the same time, it should not be the most expensive either (and I would guess that it is or will be shortly). What saves us is that our unit in Florida is a 3 BR which subdivides into a 1BR and a 2 BR. As such, maintenance fees of $800+ are really only $400 per unit from a trade perspective.

 

[JeffW]

I don't think it's high at all - the Westin and the Marriott are more than twice that much! And you really cannot compare rental prices between Maui and Kauai. Maui has higher demand and higher rent, across the board.

I just finished a stay at the Westin Princeville. Didn't attend a presentation there (no pressure to do so - nice!), but out of curiousity looked up prices. Appeared to be about $55k new (assuming 2br annual), $24k+ for resale, with about $2100/year maintenance fee. The grounds and facilities are gorgeous, but:

1. Resort is maybe 18 months old.
2. Probably still a good amount of developer inventory.

So, makes me wonder ~5+ years out, when real (vs estimated) replacements start kicking in, and there may not be as much owner subsidy (heard Marriott was notorious for this), how much the fees might jump up to. $2100/yr is $300/night, tough to think that buying the unit for $55k pretty much just allows you to get the unit for a 'low' cost of $300/night. And, I did happen to see one couple who bought there (appeared to be signing the papers on the balcony of the sales office), so I guess some people still think it's a good deal.

Jeff

 

[LisaRex]

JeffW, I own a Starwood TS. I wouldn't buy another one.

The Maui Schooner is an example of how HOA boards should run. They represent the interests of their owners and do their best to contain costs. Bravo to them.

I won't go into details here about why I'm disgusted with Starwood. But I will say that when the developer controls the HOA, the owners feel powerless and taken advantage of.

 

[Kauai Kid]

I hope Diamond at the Point at Poipu doesn't see this gouge because they are likely to follow the trend. Their maintenance fee is >$1400/wk for a two bedroom.

I'd even go further. I don't think timeshares make financial sense any more..if they ever did.


Sterling

 

[Kauai Kid]

JeffW, I own a Starwood TS. I wouldn't buy another one.

The Maui Schooner is an example of how HOA boards should run. They represent the interests of their owners and do their best to contain costs. Bravo to them.

I won't go into details here about why I'm disgusted with Starwood. But I will say that when the developer controls the HOA, the owners feel powerless and taken advantage of.

Not only do the owners feel powerles, they are powerless. Sterling

 

[DeniseM]

JeffW, I own a Starwood TS. I wouldn't buy another one.

The Maui Schooner is an example of how HOA boards should run. They represent the interests of their owners and do their best to contain costs. Bravo to them.

I won't go into details here about why I'm disgusted with Starwood. But I will say that when the developer controls the HOA, the owners feel powerless and taken advantage of.

I totally agree - and I own 3 Starwood units!

 

[JeffW]

From just a resort perspective, Westin's are very nice. The Princeville resort was fantastic, and I guess I didn't actively realize that Harborside, where I stayed twice, is also a Westin resort. If you're just staying at them through an exchange, they are great places. Apparently though, owners of them have a different view. That's a shame, since for the big bucks owners spent on them, you think you'd get less issues, not more.

Jeff

 

[DeniseM]

From just a resort perspective, Westin's are very nice. The Princeville resort was fantastic, and I guess I didn't actively realize that Harborside, where I stayed twice, is also a Westin resort. If you're just staying at them through an exchange, they are great places. Apparently though, owners of them have a different view. That's a shame, since for the big bucks owners spent on them, you think you'd get less issues, not more.

Jeff

Jeff - Starwood has beautiful resorts, but they are killing us with MF's that increse 10%+ a year and special assessments. Just recently they stripped away most of our II exchanging rights, with no warning or announcement, in addition to removing other benefits on a regular basis, so many of us wish we had never bought from Starwood. :annoyed:

 

[AKE]

I would only buy into a resort where the HOA is controlled by the owners (not developer representatives). Anytime a developer has a controlling interest (or as with most points developments, a controlling interest in perpetuity) you have a conflict of interest with the developer almost always being ont he winning end.

 

[post-it]

Kaanapali (formerly Embassy and now Diamond) charges parking whether you use valet or not. I think that it is now up to $14/day (used to be $7 with Sunterra).
From my perspective, once a maintenance fee gets to be in the $1000 range it is no longer cost effective. Unless you have to travel in prime season like Xmas or New Years week, you can rent a timeshare in Hawaii for less. I just saw the Shearwater on RCI in the $900/week range a few weeks ago and there are many others.

I just saw our MF online for Kaanapali went up $100. We haven't stayed at our home resort for a copy of years, but the last time there when parking was $12 we didn't have to pay.