Marriott Imperial Palms -- Advice, Please!

[chapjim]

This is kind of long.

I’m not a Marriott owner. I’m aware that Marriott resorts in general have a stellar reputation but know little or nothing about any particular Marriott resort.

My wife and her sister were on the phone yesterday so what follows is second-hand and is a translation from Spanish to English so there could be some loss of fidelity. The sister and her Alzheimer’s-ridden husband live in Medellín, Colombia. They have a 50-ish son with cancer.

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K. Travel for them is not in the cards. Nor is transferring to the son a real possibility. They don’t have a deed to either property. Supposedly, Marriott never provided the deeds. Marriott reportedly agrees to take back the properties but I don’t know the details of the proposed transaction. Almost certainly, it would not involve much cash either way.

Wife told sister that she would try to help. That means I will try to help.

I did a little research on Imperial Palms last night. Seems nice enough although some of the reviews are not glowing. Most of the complaints had to do with a small pool at Imperial Palms and the fact that the really nice pool complex is at the massive Marriott facility a mile or so down the road, taking shuttles, etc.

I didn’t find many listings for re-sales or rentals which suggests that no one is selling or maybe the resort is too small to have much of a market. My experience trying to rent Wyndham weeks suggests that neither Week 5 nor Week 50 is a prime week but I’m open to views to the contrary.

I’m fully aware that the easiest thing would be to deed back to Marriott or find a good home here on TUG, especially if the goal is to get out from under the maintenance fees. However, Marriott properties are more likely than most to have some real value.

I would list the weeks for rental or sale on TUG, RedWeek.com, and some other sites but have no authority to do that. So, I’ll draw up a power of attorney giving me authority to rent or dispose of the weeks. There may be a competency issue with the husband -- there would be in the US but I don’t know about Colombia. I told wife to tell sister she has to contact Marriott to obtain the deeds. With a power of attorney, I could do that.

I don’t think I want the properties myself. With 4.2 million Wyndham points and fifteen other weeks, I’m sufficiently invested in the timeshare resort business. And, I don’t want to try to learn another system.

Is the above story plausible to an experienced Marriott owner? Is there a rental or sales market for these weeks? Any other recommendations?

 

[tschwa2]

The week 50 is going to have $0 resale value and the week 5 would probably have less than $1000 resale value. I would just surrender them back to Marriott especially if they can do so without paying 2016 MF's.

For exchanging into they would be at the bottom half of the Orlando Marriotts. For purchasing they would also be at the bottom because they do not lock off and as a 3 br unit probably has MF's in the $1400 range.

 

[Fairwinds]

I'm not very familiar with the way this resort was sold (fixed, float or mixed). Are these fixed or floating weeks? I don't know that the answer will affect the $$ value very much but it's important to know for advertising if you are selling.

 

[BocaBoy]

Originally Posted by chapjim View Post
This is kind of long.

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K.

This cannot possibly be the cost when they bought these weeks, even if they bought them directly from Marriott.

They don’t have a deed to either property. Supposedly, Marriott never provided the deeds.

Did they buy directly from Marriott? I assume they did or else marriott would have nothing to do with providing deeds to them.

Marriott reportedly agrees to take back the properties but I don’t know the details of the proposed transaction. Almost certainly, it would not involve much cash either way.

Marriott is probably offering to buy back the properties. They are currently buying back Sabal Palms units on the same World Center property for $4300 (less a $500 administrative fee). Since Imperial Palms is all 3BR units they would be offering more for Imperial Palms units.

I didn’t find many listings for re-sales or rentals which suggests that no one is selling or maybe the resort is too small to have much of a market.

Imperial Palms is a very small resort, one of the smallest in the Marriott system.

 

[BocaBoy]

The week 50 is going to have $0 resale value and the week 5 would probably have less than $1000 resale value. I would just surrender them back to Marriott especially if they can do so without paying 2016 MF's.

For exchanging into they would be at the bottom half of the Orlando Marriotts. For purchasing they would also be at the bottom because they do not lock off and as a 3 br unit probably has MF's in the $1400 range.

This is simply wrong information.

I am pretty sure that Marriott will buy these weeks back for the trust for a few thousand dollars each.

And these weeks will exchange very well in Interval. They are 3 BR units and any 3BR Marriott week will exchange well. The weeks you list are not the low season.

 

[BocaBoy]

I'm not very familiar with the way this resort was sold (fixed, float or mixed). Are these fixed or floating weeks? I don't know that the answer will affect the $$ value very much but it's important to know for advertising if you are selling.

It is floating time.

 

[BocaBoy]

Deleted post.

 

[sjsharkie]

This is kind of long.

I’m not a Marriott owner. I’m aware that Marriott resorts in general have a stellar reputation but know little or nothing about any particular Marriott resort.

My wife and her sister were on the phone yesterday so what follows is second-hand and is a translation from Spanish to English so there could be some loss of fidelity. The sister and her Alzheimer’s-ridden husband live in Medellín, Colombia. They have a 50-ish son with cancer.

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K. Travel for them is not in the cards. Nor is transferring to the son a real possibility. They don’t have a deed to either property. Supposedly, Marriott never provided the deeds. Marriott reportedly agrees to take back the properties but I don’t know the details of the proposed transaction. Almost certainly, it would not involve much cash either way.

Wife told sister that she would try to help. That means I will try to help.

I did a little research on Imperial Palms last night. Seems nice enough although some of the reviews are not glowing. Most of the complaints had to do with a small pool at Imperial Palms and the fact that the really nice pool complex is at the massive Marriott facility a mile or so down the road, taking shuttles, etc.

I didn’t find many listings for re-sales or rentals which suggests that no one is selling or maybe the resort is too small to have much of a market. My experience trying to rent Wyndham weeks suggests that neither Week 5 nor Week 50 is a prime week but I’m open to views to the contrary.

I’m fully aware that the easiest thing would be to deed back to Marriott or find a good home here on TUG, especially if the goal is to get out from under the maintenance fees. However, Marriott properties are more likely than most to have some real value.

I would list the weeks for rental or sale on TUG, RedWeek.com, and some other sites but have no authority to do that. So, I’ll draw up a power of attorney giving me authority to rent or dispose of the weeks. There may be a competency issue with the husband -- there would be in the US but I don’t know about Colombia. I told wife to tell sister she has to contact Marriott to obtain the deeds. With a power of attorney, I could do that.

I don’t think I want the properties myself. With 4.2 million Wyndham points and fifteen other weeks, I’m sufficiently invested in the timeshare resort business. And, I don’t want to try to learn another system.

Is the above story plausible to an experienced Marriott owner? Is there a rental or sales market for these weeks? Any other recommendations?

You can try to search for the deeds yourself on the Orange County recorder's website. Alternatively, if you cannot do that, you can PM me with their names and I'd be happy to do a quick search for you for free.

As others have pointed out, you should try to see if Marriott will take them back for cash. In the hypothetical case above, $4300 would be likely more than you can get for them on the open market -- IF they are offering to buy back Imperial Palms and at that price. That should be your first step.

If they are not offering a buy back, I'd see what they could fetch on the open market or give them away if the market value is nominal.

Good luck.

-ryan

 

[chapjim]

Good stuff, people! Just the kind of answers I hoped to get.

 

[tschwa2]

BocaBoy,
My advice was to take Marriott's offer whatever it is, as it would be better than selling it on the open market. The OP knew there was an offer but did not know the details of the offer. A brokered listing through Marriott might be better but it would require paying MF's on both units now. The OP's sister would have to decide if the difference if a brokered listing is a possibility is worth paying the $2800 or so for the MF on the two units.

 

[jpc763]

Please note that I am an Imperial Palms owner. I own "Special" season which is equivalent to Platinum or Red. Week 50 is in "Sport" season (Silver) and week 5 is in "Special" season so the highest value.

Maintenance Fees are $1434.79 for 2016.

I would expect that at least week 5 is of value to Marriott.

This is a very nice, well kept resort that has been a great trader for me in the 16 years I have owned it.

I would check with Marriott first before giving it away.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[chapjim]

You can try to search for the deeds yourself on the Orange County recorder's website.

Ryan,

Thanks for the tip and the offer. It took about five minutes to get the deed. Fortunately, the grantee's last name is rather unusual so the list of responses was short and the one I wanted was at the top of the list. Could have been Smith.

Sister-in-law was ecstatic.

Jim

 

[chapjim]

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K.

BocaBoy posted: This cannot possibly be the cost when they bought these weeks, even if they bought them directly from Marriott.


Upon further review . . . . BocaBoy's challenge is upheld!

Turns out the $120K was the sum of a down payment and fifteen years of monthly payments. Quite different than a selling price.

 

[BocaBoy]

Deleted. Duplicate post.

 

[BocaBoy]

BocaBoy,
My advice was to take Marriott's offer whatever it is, as it would be better than selling it on the open market. The OP knew there was an offer but did not know the details of the offer. A brokered listing through Marriott might be better but it would require paying MF's on both units now. The OP's sister would have to decide if the difference if a brokered listing is a possibility is worth paying the $2800 or so for the MF on the two units.

I agree with your advice. I also don't recommend a brokered sale of these weeks versus taking a buyback offer. My challenge was to your statements that these weeks (1) were worth zero and probably less than $1000 on the open market; and (2) that they are below average traders.

 

[sjsharkie]

Ryan,

Thanks for the tip and the offer. It took about five minutes to get the deed. Fortunately, the grantee's last name is rather unusual so the list of responses was short and the one I wanted was at the top of the list. Could have been Smith.

Sister-in-law was ecstatic.

Jim

No problem. Glad to help and best of luck to your SIL with respect to selling the units.

-ryan

 

[Seaport104]

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K.

Upon further review . . . . BocaBoy's challenge is upheld!

Turns out the $120K was the sum of a down payment and fifteen years of monthly payments. Quite different than a selling price.

WOW! Just curious, what was the actual purchase price before finance charges?

 

[chapjim]

Some time ago, SIL and her husband acquired two weeks at Imperial Palms, Week 5 and Week 50, at a cost of $120K.

WOW! Just curious, what was the actual purchase price before finance charges?

Yeah, I don't know. I think my wife said the payments were $400/month. I could assume a rate of interest (14%?? 18%??) and work backwards, I guess. The deed says "$10 and other valuable consideration" or words to that effect.