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ROFR Madness - should I try Flex?

Joined
Jun 18, 2022
Messages
44
Reaction score
35
Resorts Owned
Nanea, Lagunamar
Been trying to round out my contracts at the Westin Nanea with a resale purchase of 81000 points and have had two ROFRs fail in a row (posted to ROFR.net).

Recently spoke to Tom R at Maui Resort Sales nearby and he tells me that Marriott has been aggressive on the ROFR front in West Maui as of late. I also see that confirmed on threads here.

Since everyone likes to speculate and I am no different, I am thinking they expect a squeeze in vacation rental inventory in the coming years with the new short term rental restrictions expected from Maui County. That makes West Maui time share properties more attractive for rental (vs hotel rooms) via Marriott's booking system as well as more attractive as developer sales inventory (are they just selling MVC now, or can they still sell deeds at the Nanea?).

Sister in law just spent a week at WKORVN and said the place was 98% full with many on 5 day promotional stays. So I assume the buying pressure won't go away and I won't find a resale bargain soon.

Something I noticed that does pass ROFR fairly often are Westin Flex. I would pay higher maintenance per point but (theoretically - I have never owned Flex) still have home option priority for booking at the Nanea. Can anyone share experience / insights on buying Flex points on the secondary market? Any word from Flex owners as to whether they are happy with the product would be great to hear too. Thanks
 

timsi

TUG Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
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Been trying to round out my contracts at the Westin Nanea with a resale purchase of 81000 points and have had two ROFRs fail in a row (posted to ROFR.net).

Recently spoke to Tom R at Maui Resort Sales nearby and he tells me that Marriott has been aggressive on the ROFR front in West Maui as of late. I also see that confirmed on threads here.

Since everyone likes to speculate and I am no different, I am thinking they expect a squeeze in vacation rental inventory in the coming years with the new short term rental restrictions expected from Maui County. That makes West Maui time share properties more attractive for rental (vs hotel rooms) via Marriott's booking system as well as more attractive as developer sales inventory (are they just selling MVC now, or can they still sell deeds at the Nanea?).

Sister in law just spent a week at WKORVN and said the place was 98% full with many on 5 day promotional stays. So I assume the buying pressure won't go away and I won't find a resale bargain soon.

Something I noticed that does pass ROFR fairly often are Westin Flex. I would pay higher maintenance per point but (theoretically - I have never owned Flex) still have home option priority for booking at the Nanea. Can anyone share experience / insights on buying Flex points on the secondary market? Any word from Flex owners as to whether they are happy with the product would be great to hear too. Thanks

Personally I would buy a mandatory Vistana resort before Westin flex. Sure, you do not get 12 months priority, but most times there is enough Maui inventory in VSN at 8 months. You also have other advantages like access to different unit types and more resorts, borrowing and banking etc. I also think that exchanging weeks through Interval is more advantageous than depositing Flex Options. If you buy Westin Kirkland or Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella or Key West phases, you do not have to worry about ROFR.
 

CarpeDiem65

TUG Member
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
57
Reaction score
27
Location
AB, Canada
Resorts Owned
WDW, Westin Flex
I bought 81,000 resale Westin Flex a couple months ago for $4,000 and it passed ROFR. I also bought a 1 bed premium resale at WKV a year ago. The MF on the Flex is a bit higher but I like being able to book Maui at 12 months. Both of these didn’t qualify for Club Points and the resale Flex could only be used at Westins (no ability to use them as general StarOptions at 8 months for non-Westin properties). However, when we were in WKORVN back in April, we did the owners update and they put a package together for us where we purchased 37,000 new developer Flex and they requalified the resale Flex and WKV to be fully usable as if they were any developer purchased StarOptions; made them convertible to Club Points; gave us 74,000 Bonus StarOptions to be used by the end of 2026; got us to Presidential Level, and got us to Titanium Level in Bonvoy. They were certainly willing to be creative to get a sale done. We plan to convert the 81,000 resale Flex to Club Points so we can stay a week at the Marroitt Kauai in 2026. Note that Flex StarOptions convert to Club Points at a higher multiple than WKV. 81,000 Flex get 2,810 ClubPoints and 81,000 WKV gets 2,600 ClubPoints.
 
Joined
Jun 18, 2022
Messages
44
Reaction score
35
Resorts Owned
Nanea, Lagunamar
Personally I would buy a mandatory Vistana resort before Westin flex. Sure, you do not get 12 months priority, but most times there is enough Maui inventory in VSN at 8 months. You also have other advantages like access to different unit types and more resorts, borrowing and banking etc. I also think that exchanging weeks through Interval is more advantageous than depositing Flex Options. If you buy Westin Kirkland or Sheraton Vistana Villages Bella or Key West phases, you do not have to worry about ROFR.
Normally I would be doing that but this is a case where I am just looking for the cheapest way to get 81K with a 12 month booking window for Nanea to compliment other contracts I already have. There may be some years where I want to book in Avon, Co but that is the only Vistana property I would expect to use these for. Thank you for highlighting the mandatories that have no ROFR - I had forgotten about those!
 
Joined
Jun 18, 2022
Messages
44
Reaction score
35
Resorts Owned
Nanea, Lagunamar
I bought 81,000 resale Westin Flex a couple months ago for $4,000 and it passed ROFR. I also bought a 1 bed premium resale at WKV a year ago. The MF on the Flex is a bit higher but I like being able to book Maui at 12 months. Both of these didn’t qualify for Club Points and the resale Flex could only be used at Westins (no ability to use them as general StarOptions at 8 months for non-Westin properties). However, when we were in WKORVN back in April, we did the owners update and they put a package together for us where we purchased 37,000 new developer Flex and they requalified the resale Flex and WKV to be fully usable as if they were any developer purchased StarOptions; made them convertible to Club Points; gave us 74,000 Bonus StarOptions to be used by the end of 2026; got us to Presidential Level, and got us to Titanium Level in Bonvoy. They were certainly willing to be creative to get a sale done. We plan to convert the 81,000 resale Flex to Club Points so we can stay a week at the Marroitt Kauai in 2026. Note that Flex StarOptions convert to Club Points at a higher multiple than WKV. 81,000 Flex get 2,810 ClubPoints and 81,000 WKV gets 2,600 ClubPoints.
That is interesting that the developer will retro Flex and make it eligible for MVC. Mind sharing an approximate of what you paid to do that? I retroed two Nanea 2BR OF fixed weeks in Cabo last year and they told me the minimum purchase was $10K for the first contract and then $5K for the next. Was already chairman so I bought the minimum Aventuras to get the contracts in the system - they get a bunch of MVC points if I deposit them there.
 

CarpeDiem65

TUG Member
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
57
Reaction score
27
Location
AB, Canada
Resorts Owned
WDW, Westin Flex
The base price was $15,518. This included the retro and to make the resale Flex and WKV eligible for MVC. Since we were on an Encore package we received a discount of $1,795 on that price. The net purchase price also included the new 37,000 Flex (which was initially being offered for $17,850 on its own) plus the 74,000 bonus StarOptions as well as the usual 4 certificates to purchase 330,000 Bonvoy Points for $2,275 each.
 

dioxide45

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
51,736
Reaction score
23,235
Location
NE Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Grande Vista
Marriott Harbour Lake
Sheraton Vistana Villages
Club Wyndham CWA
Also realize that there is no oceanfront Maui inventory in Flex. So you can't use it to book 12-8 months in Maui into oceanfront units.
 

rickandcindy23

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
34,301
Reaction score
10,666
Location
The Centennial State
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge and Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms(selling); WKORV-OF ,Westin Desert Willow.
I would rather buy an ocean view or even island view on Maui to get Maui. Or I would buy Westin Kierland platinum to save on MF's and get that 8 month window.
 
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