Ko Olina

[suzort]

We are considering purchasing a resale annual Ko Olina timeshare, but are becoming more confused about the point system/week system, the more we read. We love Ko Olina, but would also love to trade out weeks for other destinations on occasion. How difficult is this going to be in the future? I had another owner tell me she purchased a Branson timeshare years ago from Marriott because it was the least expensive one, but has never vacationed there because she has always traded destinations. Would we be better off doing likewise.....purchasing a less expensive one and trying to get a week in Ko Olina? Thank you!

 

[jpc763]

Well it totally depends on how often you plan to vacation at Ko Olina. If you would like to go every year or even every other year than I would purchase at Ko Olina (given the price).

Trades into Ko Olina are possible but not likely with a low season week.

As far as trading out of Ko Olina, you should be able to get pretty much anything you want provided it is available. Where else would you be interested in trading?

Another option is locking off (provided your resale has lockoff capability. Only 2 of the 3 towers offer lockoff). You can exchange each week separately or book them as consecutive weeks and have a 2 week Hawaii vacation.

Finally, Interval often offers a 2 for 1 exchange for desirable resorts such as Ko Olina.

Feel free to keep asking questions and providing info. Lots of people on here have a lot of experience doing what you are asking about.

John

 

[aandmrun]

We love our Marriott

We own a Marriott in Desert Springs and have never had a problem trading. Our trades have always come through by planning at least a year in advance. We were at Ko Olina this past December. Due to airline prices, we chose to buy close to home. It works for us because when we don't trade, we just drive about 100 miles to Palm Desert. We've traded into Hilton Head, Spain, Maui, and many other places throughout the years. If you plan to go to Hawaii EVERY year, then you should buy there, but if you want the trade value, a week in a place where you wouldn't mind going frequently should also work for you. Good luck in making your decision!

 

[suzort]

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it!

We plan on going there every year and maybe every third year looking else where such as Kauai, Maui, Hilton Head or Frenchman's Cove.

While looking at resales, we have noticed maintenance fees on annual 2bedroom deeds that vary from ~$850-$1700, is there a "catch"? Why the drastic difference?

 

[pipet]

Finally, Interval often offers a 2 for 1 exchange for desirable resorts such as Ko Olina.

As a note to the 2 for 1 ACs from Interval, these are offered when you deposit your week with Interval so you can get an additional week for around 199-299 (depending on room size). However, these are getting VERY restrictive, even when your initial deposit is a high value week, so you are limited to where you can use this additional week.

The real advantage, IMO, to owning at KoOlina is if you use it frequently and need to travel there in the high season. If you use FF miles to save $$$, then you can guarantee your dates before the 330 day FF booking period. Also, if you buy an ocean view, then you can also be guaranteed your view category (when trading in, it's a crapshoot). You can still rent OV for not much above MF at times, but you would have to watch to catch those deals.

If you can travel at the last moment (less than 60day notice), or you can travel in slower periods, you can find a lower maintenance fee Marriott TS & get to KoOlina without a lot of difficulty. No one knows how weeks trading will go in the future, but I suspect since the points systems has a TON of KoOlina weeks, Marriott will deposit these to Interval when it needs to snag other high value weeks out of Interval to fulfill points requests.

If you plan to trade out a lot, it's really a bad deal for trading when you consider maintenance fees - unless you also want other higher value weeks (then you are guaranteed good trade value). Some people get around this by renting out their higher value weeks & then pay for their "cheaper" trade with the proceeds.

 

[pipet]

We plan on going there every year and maybe every third year looking else where such as Kauai, Maui, Hilton Head or Frenchman's Cove.

While looking at resales, we have noticed maintenance fees on annual 2bedroom deeds that vary from ~$850-$1700, is there a "catch"? Why the drastic difference?

The difference in fees sounds like every year ownership vs every other year (where you pay half the 2BR fee every year).

 

[jpc763]

The difference in fees sounds like every year ownership vs every other year (where you pay half the 2BR fee every year).

This is true.

I have an every other year and I pay annually ($858.37 this year) so an every year would be double that.

 

[Art]

We had no trouble pulling a trade to a Ko'Olina 2BR unit with a March Grande Ocean week.

My general feeling based on a combination of the multitude of "sightings" here on TUG, the high air fare to Hawaii, and the three high rises at Ko"olina is that it ought not to be a very difficult trade over the long haul.

As a timeshare owner, I also thought that there were a lot of hotel type amenities at Ko 'Olina which were going to help maintain a strong upward push on maintenance fees.

Art

 

[BocaBoy]

As far as trading out of Ko Olina, you should be able to get pretty much anything you want provided it is available. Where else would you be interested in trading?

Another option is locking off (provided your resale has lockoff capability. Only 2 of the 3 towers offer lockoff). You can exchange each week separately or book them as consecutive weeks and have a 2 week Hawaii vacation.
John

Every 2BR owner at Ko Olina can lock off. Most units in the newest tower (Naia) are dedicated 2BR units that do not lock off, but even if that is your deed you have lockoff rights. You would just get assigned to one of the lockoff units.

 

[Cobra1950]

When Ko Olina was first opened it was a good bet. Now with the sharply increasing maintenance fees there - and I suspect this will be one of the resorts Marriott follows timeshare companies in more increases as they continue to build this out (lots of cleared land for more towers evident when we were there last month) it will be more costly to own on an individual basis as Marriott seems to be getting in the mood for loading up owners with costs where they can. In addition as an owner there, as Marriott builds more units then they may gradually become the majority on the HOA so private owners will have little or no say in fees or any cost allocations.
With the points program in place now, Marriott seems to be playing games with II inventory availablity (or lack of to try to get legacy owners to join) in general so be careful. Also with rising airfares, Hawaii will continue to climb in price to get to (and rental car rates in the islands are among the highest). Also in both Oahu and Kauai (we stayed at the Beach Club there) the front desks are under strict guidelines as to what rooms are "Marriott" inventory and "Interval" inventory, with of course Marriott getting the best views, etc. (our requests for better views at both Ko Olina and Kauai Beach Club were met with that response last month).
In my mind the only reason to purchase a Marriott timeshare on the resale market now is if you are going to be using it yourself the majority of times, the original rule of timeshare purchases if your trade does not come through. If you are using your timeshare that way, then even Marriott seems to say that their points program makes no sense.
So purchase at the moment really boils down to whether or not you are going to be using that specific timeshare the majority of years-if so and you can tolerate the maintenance fees-great. If you are hoping on getting good trades outside of Flexchange 60 day or so time (which will not allow you to get good airfares to Hawaii, especially with fuel prices now officially out of control according to the Feds) in a few years, it may not be much of a bet.

 

[suzort]

Thank you so much for all the info!

My DH is an airline employee so it is always in our best interest to travel off season, since we fly stand by. Besides that, we aren't a big fan of crowds anyways. In fact we spent a day in Waikiki before checking into Ko Olina, and boy, it was a breath of fresh and relaxing air!

As far as MF....typically how often does Marriott raise them?

 

[pipet]

As far as MF....typically how often does Marriott raise them?

Every year; you can count on that! For example, at the Waiohai, my MF in 2003 was only 927.76. This year for 2012, it's 1,625.27. In the Marriott FAQs, there is a link to some historical data so you can see how big the increases were over some of the years:
http://www.tug2.net/advice/marriottmf.htm

 

[jpc763]

Thank you so much for all the info!

My DH is an airline employee so it is always in our best interest to travel off season, since we fly stand by. Besides that, we aren't a big fan of crowds anyways. In fact we spent a day in Waikiki before checking into Ko Olina, and boy, it was a breath of fresh and relaxing air!

As far as MF....typically how often does Marriott raise them?

Pretty much every year. Here is my record of my maintenance fees

Maintenance Fees

Year Ko Olina %
2008 $702.18
2009 $751.84 7.07%
2010 $751.68 -0.02%
2011 $817.84 8.80%
2012 $858.37 4.96%

Note that mine is an EOY so I pay half the fee every year. I have 2 other Marriotts and they too raise their fees every year. For reference, here is the Odd half of my EOY Ko Olina - This one is Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert.

Maintenance Fees

Year Shadow Ridge %
2008 $440.46
2009 $453.70 3.01%
2010 $463.70 2.20%
2011 $478.50 3.19%
2012 $508.54 6.28%


Finally, the first timeshare I bought, Marriott Imperial Palms, Orlando - Every year

Maintenance Fees

Year Imperial Palms %
2000 $702.29
2001 $708.06 0.82%
2002 $756.12 6.79%
2003 $750.12 -0.79%
2004 $759.90 1.30%
2005 $841.40 10.73%
2006 $898.38 6.77%
2007 $949.80 5.72%
2008 $998.35 5.11%
2009 $1,088.00 8.98%
2010 $1,180.65 8.52%
2011 $1,200.52 1.68%
2012 $1,242.54 3.50%


J

 

[slum808]

Thank you so much for all the info!

As far as MF....typically how often does Marriott raise them?

It is rare that any timeshare mf remain stable year to year especially in Hawaii. Two large components of MF are labor and property tax. Local state and counties use property tax to fund city and county operations. They have tried to raise both the rate and assessed value of the Hawaii properties to bring in more tax revenue.

The labor portion includes heath care cost for the employees, and I'm sure you know by the raise in your own healthcare cost, that this will continue to rise year after year.

 

[suzort]

Thank you for all the info on MF, I appreciate it!

What are some recommended sites for resales besides ebay? When a listing states a specific week (for deeding purposes only), what does that mean? Should the week make any difference in a price? Most ebay listing require a $499 closing fee and $120 transfer fee, is that normal? Any other questions we should ask a seller before committing to purchase?

Thank you again for all your help with answering our questions, we just want to make the best decision and realize y'all know FAR FAR more than us!!!

 

[pipet]

What are some recommended sites for resales besides ebay?

Ebay tends to have the rock bottom of the market, and if you go that route, just make sure to do a little homework (check for reputable sellers/closing agents, double-check week to make sure you are getting what you are buying, make sure there aren't unpaid MF that you aren't aware of, etc).

People also list ads here on TUG (in the marketplace). Redweek.com & ownertrades.com also have resale listings. There are also reputable brokers you can buy resale from.

When a listing states a specific week (for deeding purposes only), what does that mean? Should the week make any difference in a price?

Since most weeks are floating, you willl just need to check that you are getting the view you think you are getting (or alternately, if you are buying a penthouse unit or fixed week). As for price, within the same view category, it doesn't make any difference (i.e. all week 1-50 mountain view 2BRs should be considered equal).

Most ebay listing require a $499 closing fee and $120 transfer fee, is that normal?

That seems high but it might be the going rate now. I vaguely remember reading that closing costs have gone up in HI because a HI company MUST be involved (new state law). You could call around & find out what some other closing agents would charge (there are plenty of recommendations here on TUG - check out the buying/selling forum). You might be able to choose your own closing agent if buying from an individual, but many listings on ebay are through timeshare fire-sale people, and they want you to go through their agent, although you can certainly ask if this is negotiable.