Opinion/Advice on Purchase

[lordnorth]

Hoping I might get some opinions on whether a purchase I am considering is a good deal and any advice on how to safely proceed with the purchase.

The property is Vistana Villages Key West. It is a two bedroom lock-off in Platinum season with a point value of 95,700 (Though I'm not sure of the exact week.) The maintenance fees are estimated at $1400 for 2012. They are reportedly paid up through 2011.

The asking price is $3500 and the expected closing costs are about $300 plus $50 to record the deed and $25 for Starwood to transfer ownership.

This would be our first purchase into Starwood, although my parents currently own weeks in Vistana Villages and in Colorado. We expect to inherit their weeks, hopefully in the very distant future.

Can anyone weigh in on whether they feel like this is a good deal, a fair deal, or just a poor deal (for the buyer!). Also can anyone make recommendations on title companies.

What should I be asking for before the sale to make sure everything is legit and what should I be doing/looking for to keep myself safe.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Chris

 

[gtm2011]

Do you need 95,700 StarOptions? If not, I would recommend a non-lock off 2 bedroom at Bella or Key West that gives you 81,000 StarOptions. The maintenance fee’s are about $400 cheaper (around $1,000 versus $1,400) and the purchase price will probably be around $1,500 to $2,000 instead of $3,500. I am assuming you are buying a mandatory resort for the StarOptions and not to trade in II. Otherwise, you should probably buy a Gold Plus (1-52 week) SDO 2 bedroom lock off for around $1,000 with maintenance fees around $900 a year.

 

[vacationtime1]

Do you need 95,700 StarOptions? If not, I would recommend a non-lock off 2 bedroom at Bella or Key West that gives you 81,000 StarOptions. The maintenance fee’s are about $400 cheaper (around $1,000 versus $1,400) and the purchase price will probably be around $1,500 to $2,000 instead of $3,500. I am assuming you are buying a mandatory resort for the StarOptions and not to trade in II. Otherwise, you should probably buy a Gold Plus (1-52 week) SDO 2 bedroom lock off for around $1,000 with maintenance fees around $900 a year.

I agree with this. 81,000 is the benchmark number of StarOptions required for two bedroom units at most of Starwood's east coast resorts and for one bedroom units in Hawaii. What is your purpose in purchasing 95,700 SO's? If you don't have a clear answer, you shouldn't pay extra.

The advice about purchasing a 2 bedroom lock off SDO for Interval exchanges is also very sound.

 

[DeniseM]

What should I be asking for before the sale to make sure everything is legit and what should I be doing/looking for to keep myself safe.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Chris

When you buy a timeshare on ebay:

1) You don't pay immediately as you do with other auctions - I'd make a minmum "good faith" deposit, and then wait for the *Resale Info. Sheet before I paid in full.

2) You use a closing/escrow company to handle the paper work and $$$ - usually the big ebay sellers will insist that you use their affiliated closing company.

3) eBay timeshare auctions are not binding - you can back out with no consequences if you find that the property is not what was advertised.

4) You can ask the closing company/reseller to request a *Resale Info. Sheet from Starwood that will confirm what you are buying. They have to do it - Starwood will not provide it to the buyer.

 

[LisaRex]

I think having a lockoff is ideal because it will allow you to separate the 2 sides and potentially get two great II trades. Or, you can use SOs to book within SVN.

Purchase price seems high, though.

 

[lordnorth]

My thoughts were that A). We could split the weeks for trades if necessary and B). With the extra points we could take a "regular" 81,000 trip each year and bank the balance, then every third year we could do a trip requiring more points.

I understand that price is determined by what someone will pay for it... but what should something like this go for? I can't find any completed sales on Ebay for either Bella or KeyWest and SellMyTimeShareNow has similar units for between $8000 and 12000. Certainly doesn't mean anyone is buying them, but that is what they are asking.

 

[grgs]

My thoughts were that A). We could split the weeks for trades if necessary and B). With the extra points we could take a "regular" 81,000 trip each year and bank the balance, then every third year we could do a trip requiring more points.

I understand that price is determined by what someone will pay for it... but what should something like this go for?

What I have from e-bay for the last two years:

2/9/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,912
5/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,850
6/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,125
7/12/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,875
7/16/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,025
10/2/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,455
10/7/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,025
1/24/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,072
3/9/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,137
3/30/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,175
7/5/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 810
9/15/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,251
9/20/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,751

I agree that the L/O option is nice to have. It's hard to quantify how much more that's worth.

Glorian

 

[scootr5]

Do you track these, or how do you get it to display that far back? When I look at completed listings, I only see a couple weeks back.

What I have from e-bay for the last two years:

2/9/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,912
5/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,850
6/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,125
7/12/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,875
7/16/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,025
10/2/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,455
10/7/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,025
1/24/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,072
3/9/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,137
3/30/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,175
7/5/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 810
9/15/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,251
9/20/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,751

I agree that the L/O option is nice to have. It's hard to quantify how much more that's worth.

Glorian

 

[grgs]

Do you track these

Yes. It's a sickness. Although, I'm not quite on top of it like I used to be.

Might as well give you the prices back to Aug. 2007:

8/27/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 10,434
9/6/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 12,600
12/3/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 12,000
2/12/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 14,300
7/22/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 9,600
10/23/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 7,964
4/15/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,162
3/11/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 5,680
10/6/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 6,200
11/18/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 5,047
11/30/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,162
11/30/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,262
12/12/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 3,650
12/25/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 3,275
2/9/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,912
5/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,850
6/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,125
7/12/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,875
7/16/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,025
10/2/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,455
10/7/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,025
1/24/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,072
3/9/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,137
3/30/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,175
7/5/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 810
9/15/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,251
9/20/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,751

 

[lordnorth]

Might as well give you the price back to Aug. 2007:

8/27/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 10,434
9/6/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 12,600
12/3/2007 2 bd LO EY Prime 12,000
2/12/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 14,300
7/22/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 9,600
10/23/2008 2 bd LO EY Prime 7,964
4/15/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,162
3/11/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 5,680
10/6/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 6,200
11/18/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 5,047
11/30/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,162
11/30/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,262
12/12/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 3,650
12/25/2009 2 bd LO EY Prime 3,275
2/9/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,912
5/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,850
6/17/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,125
7/12/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,875
7/16/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,025
10/2/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,455
10/7/2010 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,025
1/24/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,072
3/9/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 2,137
3/30/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,175
7/5/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 810
9/15/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 4,251
9/20/2011 2 bd LO EY Prime 1,751

Holy Cr.... Prices fell of the edge after 2008, didn't they. Guess it corresponds with the whole Housing Bust/Great Recession thing. Luxury items really are the first to go.