Qualifying Resale Unit for $10K

[skigirl]

We have a 3bd unit at SVV Key West phase worth 139,700 SO that we bought for peanuts on the resale market in 2015. We have taken great vacations since purchasing it... Steamboat twice during prime season, Beaver Creek, Vistana Villages several times, Lagunamar once and currently at Kierland. In our owner update at Steamboat, we turned down the offer to “sell back” our unit for the Flex program. In our recent owner update at Kierland yesterday, we were intrigued by the option to buy a second deed for $10-15K, which would “qualify” our first resale deed. We were told it would bring it into the system ahead of whatever is coming in the new system. This would also elevate us to 3* Elite...not sure how beneficial that is. As a family of 5 (with 3 children under 10), we take full advantage of our options today. I would like the ability to convert to Bonvoy points once I qualify the resale. I’ve read on the forum that it’s not a good deal. Can someone elaborate why? I would have access to about 330K Marriott Bonvoy points annually with both deeds, which is good for a week at many prime locations (Vail, Whistler, beach, etc). We were also offered 6 coupons to buy 330K Marriott Bonvoy points for $2,220 per coupon, which seems like a good deal. I could qualify my first deed two ways... either buying a Kierland 67K EOY unit for $15K or buying a Westin flex unit for 44K EOY unit for $10K. I’m leaning towards the Kierland since it’s a mandatory resort. I know I can get it much cheaper for resale but is the qualification worth it with the upcoming Marriott common system? I thought I’d have more leverage as a a qualified deed owner vs. resale. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[DannyTS]

Still speculation at this point but there is a good chance that all the Staroptions (retail and mandatory resale) will be allowed to trade in the MVC-Vistana integrated program. I would not do anything at this point until we know more, probably in 6-12 months from now. These deals will probably not disappear overnight and you will have other chances to qualify your week when you know exactly what your real gain is.

330k Bonvoy for $2200 is cheaper than buying direct from Marriott but according to the Points guy their value is 0.8 cents per point so the gain is not enough to justify spending 10-15 k.

 

[Sicnarf]

Qualifying a mandatory unit @ $10-15k is not a wise move since converting SO to BV points is never a good exchange as your 200k+ SOs will exchange 10-11 nights in a 2br in Maui but only 6 nights in a cat7 hotel room. Also a 3* Elite provides minimal benefits. However, the 6 promos have value that would offset your spend if used wisely. And if you get some BV points incentive even better. A better option would be to sell back your SVV and get a 2BR Platinum WKV as your maintenance fee will be much cheaper.

 

[Sicnarf]

Still speculation at this point but there is a good chance that all the Staroptions (retail and mandatory resale) will be allowed to trade in the MVC-Vistana integrated program. I would not do anything at this point until we know more, probably in 6-12 months from now. These deals will probably not disappear overnight and you will have other chances to qualify your week when you know exactly what your real gain is.

330k Bonvoy for $2200 is cheaper than buying direct from Marriott but according to the Points guy their value is 0.8 cents per point so the gain is not enough to justify spending 10-15 k.

My wedding present to my daughter was a 10-night stay at the St Regis Maldives and 2 business class tickets all using BV points costing <$7k compared to >$22k! So, you can certainly break even with just 3 promos

 

[SteveS1]

I was at WKV, did my owners update two days ago and learned they are no longer offering upgrades from resale purchases. Even though I had two resales that were previously re-qualified, they specifically pointed out that they cannot offer any upgrade/transfer on them now. This option was available in past owners updates I've done as recently as March. So I believe they are misleading you saying that because you requalify the SVV week to "bring it into the (SVN) System" that ownership will be worth more under the yet to be announced Marriott program. Your SVV week will continue to be marked as RESALE in their system.

So you'd be paying $10K for the following:
- 3* SVN Elite Status - not worth much now and unclear how it will map to whatever Marriott announces
- Ability to convert SO to Bonvoy. Its a good fall back option only after you no longer need the timeshares, but sounds like you make good use and will continue to.
- The Coupons - not a bad deal but only a slam dunk for exchanging to top tier (category 7) hotels for 5 or more days. I'm sure they sold it to you that way, they always do. It would be a nice add on only if items 1 & 2 made it a good deal, which they don't

 

[Bierhund]

A resale will always show in your portfolio as "Resale" to distinguish it from a developer sale. The difference is that a third-party sale is an "unauthorized" resale. A retro'd week becomes an "authorized" resale.

 

[DannyTS]

A resale will always show in your portfolio as "Resale" to distinguish it from a developer sale. The difference is that a third-party sale is an "unauthorized" resale. A retro'd week becomes an "authorized" resale.

Is there any difference between an authorized resale and a developer resale?

 

[jabberwocky]

Is there any difference between an authorized resale and a developer resale?

Not from a usage standpoint.

 

[jabberwocky]

You have a mandatory unit that gives you StarOptions already. This is the primary benefit of the VSN system.

if you had a platinum Lagunamar 2BR week then it might be worth a retro - but in your case the benefits don’t outweigh the costs.

 

[jabberwocky]

My wedding present to my daughter was a 10-night stay at the St Regis Maldives and 2 business class tickets all using BV points costing <$7k compared to >$22k! So, you can certainly break even with just 3 promos

This is a good example of a situation where you can take maximum advantage of the Bonvoy points. Well done! Most users I think will be lucky to get $0.01/point value as they cash them as a cash replacement for cheaper hotel stays.