Marriott Vacation Club - Planning to buy and need guidance

[PRAVI]

Hello Everyone - We recently stayed at Grande vista
and attended the 90 min sales pitch and purchased a MVC destination 1500 point package at $21k and $1157 MF. Perks were 3000 points + Another 1500 after 18 months. Luckily stumbled at this site and realized the blunder we had made. Luckily it was the 9th calendar day and read the print of the contract and realized we had time rescind. Rescinded by email and mail and looks like we are good. I do appreciate all the materials provided in this site and that it has helped a lot of people save their hard earned money.

I do like Marriott properties and have been staying with them for 13 years. If we take a yearly 1 week vacation(Beach properties - JW Marriott - Marco Island) what would you suggest the kind of re-sale package I should get? I saw an ad for 1000 MVC Destination points for $3250 and MF of just $620. With points available for purchase for $0.65 per point would this work out? Please guide me to make an educated decision.

 

[vacationtime1]

First things first. Did you rescind exactly per the instructions? Did everyone who signed the purchase contract sign the rescission letter?

If you want Marriott Destination Points, you can buy them for about $6/pp -- about $3/pp for the purchase and another $3/pp for Marriott's extortion education fee to make them work the same as if you purchased from Marriott. You will need a whole lot more that 1000 points if you want to stay for more than a couple of days during low season. See https://vacationpointexchange.com/pointschart/points_charts_2022.pdf to see how many points are required for reservations.

Buying a resale week -- rather than points -- will be far more cost/effective. But we have no idea of what your purpose and desires are. If you complete this survey https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-new-timeshare-owners.208742/ it will help focus you, and us.

 

[jmhpsu93]

Best advice I can give is buy one resale week, maybe a Platinum Grande Vista week lockoff 2BR. Join Interval. With that you will have some flexibility in using the system.

Marco Island is a tough trade, but if you're willing to "settle" for Ocean Pointe on the east coast that's a lot easier to get into and if you're willing to travel off season you could trade into it and stay two weeks. My Gold MGV trades into there for Memorial Day week every year.

 

[Fasttr]

Marco Island is easier to get into using points, but is points pricey.

 

[Big Matt]

Marco is a good value for points if you travel in the off season. Marco is dead, but the resort is still nice and the ocean is fine.

 

[rthib]

If you buy points, make sure you understand the different levels and the booking windows.
Under 4000 means you can only book 7 nights at 12 months and less than 7 at 10 month.
Other will be able to book 1+ at 13 months.

 

[Fasttr]

Marco is a good value for points if you travel in the off season. Marco is dead, but the resort is still nice and the ocean is fine.

Good point.

 

[jmhpsu93]

Another option would be to buy 1500 points resale....figure around $10K all-in, then rent the additional points you need at just above maintenance fees for what you need.

1500 is the minimum ownership interest that gets you access to everything, I think. I'm not sure you can own just 1K but others can chime in on that.

 

[Pamplemousse]

Hello Everyone - We recently stayed at Grande vista
and attended the 90 min sales pitch and purchased a MVC destination 1500 point package at $21k and $1157 MF. Perks were 3000 points + Another 1500 after 18 months. Luckily stumbled at this site and realized the blunder we had made. Luckily it was the 9th calendar day and read the print of the contract and realized we had time rescind. Rescinded by email and mail and looks like we are good. I do appreciate all the materials provided in this site and that it has helped a lot of people save their hard earned money.

I do like Marriott properties and have been staying with them for 13 years. If we take a yearly 1 week vacation(Beach properties - JW Marriott - Marco Island) what would you suggest the kind of re-sale package I should get? I saw an ad for 1000 MVC Destination points for $3250 and MF of just $620. With points available for purchase for $0.65 per point would this work out? Please guide me to make an educated decision.

If you wanted to tell us when you wanted to go to Marco Island, what view category you would be looking for and what size unit we could give you an idea of how many points it would take for your stay.

As others have said that property is popular, points expensive and doesn’t show up for exchange on II very often- even requesting a year in advance.

If Marco is where you want to go most of the time you might look for a resale week there in the season you want to travel (I have no idea of any are available) and also have a look at what renting the week you want from redweek would cost you rather than buying at all.
As others have said if you aim wasn’t Marco, if it was say Ocean Pointe it would be different- Ocean Pointe is easy to get, although still points expense and IMO not nearly as nice as Marco.

 

[jwalk03]

You mention JW Marriott in your post as well- just want to make sure you understand that Destination Points cannot be used to book hotel stays directly. You have to exchange the DPs to BonVoy points at a less than favorable exchange rate and then use BonVoy points to book a hotel. Cost wise it is definitely not the best use of your DPs.

 

[Dean]

First I'd suggest you slow down and not do anything until you completely understand your options and the ramifications involved. To me the main questions are whether you should buy a week to use, whether exchanging is a good option for the routine or whether points is the best. Your desired locations, where you live, flexibility, usual time of travel and unit size needed would figure heavily into any recommendations. You mentioned beach/Marco island specifically. There are many other beach options besides Marco Island including MB, HHI, Singer island on the East coast. I would generally have a resale focus regardless but I likely would not just buy points and I would not recommend a smaller package and renting transferred points as the usual option.

 

[PRAVI]

Hello Everyone- Thanks for your responses a day do appreciate the feedback. I am going with Dean to take it slow and understand if I really want to buy a MVC with points resale or go for a different options without the neverending MF.

It's just me, my wife and our 3 yr old in our family. We should be able to afford around $150 a month for MF and buy something around $5k to $8k without any financing. Definitely would want to stick with Marriott though. We love the beach and been to florida quite a few times and love how we could even visit in FL in November.

 

[PRAVI]

First things first. Did you rescind exactly per the instructions? Did everyone who signed the purchase contract sign the rescission letter?

If you want Marriott Destination Points, you can buy them for about $6/pp -- about $3/pp for the purchase and another $3/pp for Marriott's extortion education fee to make them work the same as if you purchased from Marriott. You will need a whole lot more that 1000 points if you want to stay for more than a couple of days during low season. See https://vacationpointexchange.com/pointschart/points_charts_2022.pdf to see how many points are required for reservations.

Buying a resale week -- rather than points -- will be far more cost/effective. But we have no idea of what your purpose and desires are. If you complete this survey https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/what-to-buy-questions-for-new-timeshare-owners.208742/ it will help focus you, and us.

Yes sir rescinded properly based on the verbiage on the contract. Email + Hard copy mail with both of our signatures and copy of contract attached.

 

[Dean]

Hello Everyone- Thanks for your responses a day do appreciate the feedback. I am going with Dean to take it slow and understand if I really want to buy a MVC with points resale or go for a different options without the neverending MF.

It's just me, my wife and our 3 yr old in our family. We should be able to afford around $150 a month for MF and buy something around $5k to $8k without any financing. Definitely would want to stick with Marriott though. We love the beach and been to florida quite a few times and love how we could even visit in FL in November.

Let us know if you have other questions or concerns, we're always glad to help where we can. As you spend more time and understand the process, the best choices for you will become more clear. It sounds like you'll soon be tied to the school calendar so that's a consideration. Your budget is awfully tight for your plans. You can always rent privately until you have more information and your budget is a little less tight in this area.

To buy points resale for say 3000 which sounds like the minimum yearly for you, is out of your budget at around $15K buy in or slightly more and a little over $1800 yearly. It sounds like to me that the best options to fit your parameters are to buy a Gold Ocean Pointe Gold 2 BR Oceanside or possibly Ocean Front which will barely fit inside those numbers. An alternative would be to buy a trading week, esp Willow Ridge or Grand Chateau, which should fit even with the II membership and exchange fees but will be close as well. Enjoy the education and process, rushing for that next vacation will very likely cost you money and heartache in the long run.

 

[DRH90277]

Hello Everyone- Thanks for your responses a day do appreciate the feedback. I am going with Dean to take it slow and understand if I really want to buy a MVC with points resale or go for a different options without the neverending MF.

It's just me, my wife and our 3 yr old in our family. We should be able to afford around $150 a month for MF and buy something around $5k to $8k without any financing. Definitely would want to stick with Marriott though. We love the beach and been to florida quite a few times and love how we could even visit in FL in November.

If you are interested in points, I suggest you think seriously about how many points you would need to do anything meaningful. For example, you would need 4,700 points for a prime week at Newport Coast or at OceanWatch in Myrtle Beach. Now, are you really likely to spend at least $28,000 over time to gather 4,700 points to use for 1 week?

Buy resale weeks - Think about buying just 1 resale week now for $9,000 and seeing how much you like timeshare. You could use this week, trade it through Interval, or rent it out for cash. You could even buy a Newport Coast or an OceanWatch "prime" week for $9,000.

 

[ahdah]

I would think buying where you want to go would be a good option. If you buy something that is desirable, then you could trade through II or rent your week and use the funds to go where you want to go. If buying points, you need to buy the amount you would need to reserve the week, which won't be cheap. Good luck. I do believe it is important to buy where you want to go. That's what I did and am very happy with my decision.

 

[ahdah]

If you are interested in points, I suggest you think seriously about how many points you would need to do anything meaningful. For example, you would need 4,700 points for a prime week at Newport Coast or at OceanWatch in Myrtle Beach. Now, are you really likely to spend at least $28,000 over time to gather 4,700 points to use for 1 week?

Buy resale weeks - Think about buying just 1 resale week now for $9,000 and seeing how much you like timeshare. You could use this week, trade it through Interval, or rent it out for cash. You could even buy a Newport Coast or an OceanWatch "prime" week for $9,000.

If I were buying Newport Coast or OceanWatch, then I would choose OceanWatch. Half of the owners own platinum at Newport and it would not be easy to get a good week, while OceanWatch has a much smaller number looking for the summer platinum weeks and if not using then you could rent a platinum week on Redweek and use the money to rent where you want to travel.

 

[ahdah]

If you are interested in points, I suggest you think seriously about how many points you would need to do anything meaningful. For example, you would need 4,700 points for a prime week at Newport Coast or at OceanWatch in Myrtle Beach. Now, are you really likely to spend at least $28,000 over time to gather 4,700 points to use for 1 week?

Buy resale weeks - Think about buying just 1 resale week now for $9,000 and seeing how much you like timeshare. You could use this week, trade it through Interval, or rent it out for cash. You could even buy a Newport Coast or an OceanWatch "prime" week for $9,000.

Marriott weeks have increased and I'm not sure you can buy platinum at OceanWatch for $9000 now. Last year you could but not now. Good luck, maybe when the 2022 fees come due more people will want to sell.

 

[Vacation fun]

Another option is that you could rent points possible to accomplish what your looking for or rent off of Red week the units and places you would like to go. Until then figure out your goals for vacations

 

[DRH90277]

Marriott weeks have increased and I'm not sure you can buy platinum at OceanWatch for $9000 now. Last year you could but not now. Good luck, maybe when the 2022 fees come due more people will want to sell.

Interesting, I finally closed a "Platinum, Ocean Side, OceanWatch villa week" in November for $9,500 plus closing costs. I'll watch and maybe buy another one next year when no one is looking.