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reservation for new buyer

lily28

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Hi. I bought a 2 bedroom vistana resort from a resale company in 12/08. I was told by the agent the transfer will take 2-3 mo but the transfer agent says usually will take 3-4 mo, sometime even longer. The resale company has offered to reserve a week for me as their guest.

How does it work? Do I have to pay for a guest certificate while waiting for the transfer? Once a week is reserved for me by the resale co, can I change it down the road?

Before I purchase this timeshare, I have already booked to go to disney for my daughter's 4th birthday for later this month. I am not sure whether I will be back at Orlando again in 2009. What week should I reserve to better my chance of exchange if I decide not to go back to orlando this yr and deposit the week at II later? will starwood give me problem for deposit into II later since the initial reservation is by the resale co/initial owner?

thanks in advance for your advice.
 

DeniseM

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Hi. I bought a 2 bedroom vistana resort from a resale company in 12/08. I was told by the agent the transfer will take 2-3 mo but the transfer agent says usually will take 3-4 mo, sometime even longer. The resale company has offered to reserve a week for me as their guest.

How does it work? Do I have to pay for a guest certificate while waiting for the transfer? Once a week is reserved for me by the resale co, can I change it down the road?

Starwood doesn't have GC's, but the current owner can make a reservation for you using the week you are buying and once it's in your name, you can change the reservation. However, after the 12 - 8 mo. window, you will no longer have an owner's priority to make a reservation.

Before I purchase this timeshare, I have already booked to go to disney for my daughter's 4th birthday for later this month. I am not sure whether I will be back at Orlando again in 2009. What week should I reserve to better my chance of exchange if I decide not to go back to orlando this yr and deposit the week at II later? will starwood give me problem for deposit into II later since the initial reservation is by the resale co/initial owner?

thanks in advance for your advice.

You will not be able to deposit a week into II, until it is in your name. Holiday and summer weeks are the strongest exchangers. Once it's in your name, it won't matter if the current owner made the reservation.
 
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lily28

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The week I purchase is flex wk 1-52. So if I ask the previous owner to reserve christmas or new yr week for me, can I deposit that wk in II if I don't use it?
 

DeniseM

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Yes, once it is in your name. However, you may have to fight Starwood for your right to do so...
 

jerseygirl

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It might be a little late to reserve for this year, but I think Spring Break weeks (9-14) are stronger than summer for trading -- I remember a one-BR spring week having greater trading power than a 2-BR summer week when I owned there (approx 2002-2003). Week 52 should always be strong, but week 51 seems to be dependent on the school vacation schedules (if most schools are closed the whole week, it's a strong trader).
 

jerseygirl

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I just checked the II travel demand index:

130: 9, 13, 51, 52
125: 10, 11, 12, 14
120: 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 25
115: 17
110: 22, 24, 26, 27, 30

I think this may change slightly from year to year, but I would try to deposit a spring break week over a summer week.
 

amanven

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I think what the resale company is offering to do is reserve your 2009 week for you since you won't have the legal right to do it for quite a while. When I bought my float week back in November I wanted one particular week quite badly so to ensure I got it I told the broker I wouldn't buy unless a reservation was made for me by the current owner. The reservation was made and when my unit was transferred to me the reservation transferred with it. The only difficulty I had was when I wanted to change check in days. I couldn't do that until well after I was acknowledged by Starwood as being the new owner because my name wasn't on the initial reservation. I think it is reasonable to say you won't be able to change the reservation made by the resale company or deposit it into II until the ownership change is recorded by Starwood owner services unless the resale company can add your name to the reservation they are making for you. Even then your options for changing may be limited until the transfer is complete.

You don't say who your agent or closing company is but in the case of my purchase at SVR, I was also told it could take 2 -3 months or more for the transfer to be done but in fact everything was done and recorded and I had my original deed in hand in 7 weeks.

Jersey girl is right, spring weeks 9 & 13 are the best spring traders and weeks 51 and 52 at Christmas are just as good but it is getting kinda late to try to exchange a 2009 spring week and questionable whether you will have the transfer done in time to do that so if they are willing to make a 2009reservation for you go for the Christmas week and change it later if you must.

From what I understand one of the advantages of buying resale is that you do have the right to insist that Starwood deposit your reserved week into II and not a week of their choice.
 
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