sheraton vistana resale questions

[lfuhr]

I am trying to find out more abouttimesharing at sheraton vistana. Please help me answers to the following questions(all pertain to resale):


If you purchase a week on the resale market, is it a fixed week or floating week?
If it is floating, what are the general rules regarding reserving your week?
Is it the (fixed vs. floating)for all sections? Does vistana have internal exchange(exchange your unit/week for another at the resort)?
How about exchanging for other starwood properties?
Is there a 1 in 4 rule with RCI?
Do 2BR trade for 3br on RCI?
Do the deeds expire?
What benefits do you not get if you buy resale?
What sections are recommended? Not recommended?
What is the range on the maintenance fees?
If someone has bought resale, how smooth was the transfer process? Who closed it?

thanks in advance for all your answers.

LFuhr

 

[hopetotimeshare]

I am trying to find out more abouttimesharing at sheraton vistana. Please help me answers to the following questions(all pertain to resale):

WE ARE CLOSING AT THE END OF THIS WEEK. I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO SV BUT I HAVE DONE ENOUGH RESEARCH TO FILL A BOOK! please feel free to pm or email me with any questions! MY ANSWERS ARE IN CAPS/BOLD TWINMOMNDAD@YAHOO.COM

If you purchase a week on the resale market, is it a fixed week or floating week? DEPENDS ON WHICH SECTION
If it is floating, what are the general rules regarding reserving your week? ADVICE HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME TO BOOK WELL IN ADVANCE - YOU CAN BOOK UP TO 12 MONTHS IN ADVANCE AND AFTER 8 IT CAN BE DIFFICULT DURING PEAK TIMES
Is it the (fixed vs. floating)for all sections? OLDER SECTIONS ARE FIXED
Does vistana have internal exchange(exchange your unit/week for another at the resort)? YES - YOU CAN EVEN DO 3 DAYS IN ONE AND 4 IN ANOTHER FOR A NOMINAL FEE
How about exchanging for other starwood properties? YOU CAN NOT BE A STARWOOD MEMBER IF YOU BUY A RESALE
Is there a 1 in 4 rule with RCI? NOT SURE
Do 2BR trade for 3br on RCI? NOT SURE
Do the deeds expire? NOT IF THEY ARE DEEDED FOR LIFE
What benefits do you not get if you buy resale? NO SVO
What sections are recommended? IMHO LAKES AND CASCADES
Not recommended? NOT SURE
What is the range on the maintenance fees? MINE ARE $742 MF AND TAX FOR LAKES
If someone has bought resale, how smooth was the transfer process? Who closed it? VERY SMOOTH! REMAX DID NOT SELL THE WEEK, I BOUGHT IT FROM A GUY ONE TOWN OVER BUT THEY HANDLED THE CLOSING BEAUTIFULLY! I CAN PROVIDE THEIR INFO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PM ME

thanks in advance for all your answers.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Correction --- if you buy a SVO mandatory resort resale - you are a member of SVN (and pay the associated fee) and you are able to exchange via the SVN system. As a resale buyer you do not get StarPoints (good for hotel stays, etc.), but you do get StarOptions (used for SVN exchanges).

http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

Vistana Villages is mandatory - Vistana Resort is not. I know nothing about the difference between the 2 resorts - or which one you are asking about.

If a SVO salesperson is telling you info that you cannot exchange if you buy resale at a mandatory resort, then he is giving you misinformation (...what a surprise...).

 

[DeniseM]

I am trying to find out more abouttimesharing at sheraton vistana. Please help me answers to the following questions(all pertain to resale):

Most of the Starwood posts and owners are on the TUG Hotel Based TS Board, and there is a wealth of Info. there.-
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30

If you purchase a week on the resale market, is it a fixed week or floating week?

It could be either fixed or floating, buying it resale won't change that - it will stay the same as it was when originally purchased.

If it is floating, what are the general rules regarding reserving your week?

The owner's priority period is 8 to 12 mos. out - during that time only owners can make reservations at their home resort. After 8 mos., owners at other Starwood resorts can exchange in using Staroptions. For the best chance of getting the week you want, it is advisable to call at exactly 12 mos. out at 9:00 am ET with the owners Resv. office opens.

How about exchanging for other starwood properties?

If you buy at a mandatory resort (Vistana Villages) you can request exchanges to other Starwood Resorts starting at 8 mos. out. Make sure you know how many Star Options your unit comes with. You really need a minum of 67,100 to get you into at least a studio at all Starwood resorts or 81,000 for at least a 1 bdm. at all resorts. There is a Staroptions chart on the TUG Advice page too - http://www.tug2.net/tugadvic.shtml

What benefits do you not get if you buy resale?

The only thing you lose is the ability to convert your unit to hotel points every other year - no biggie, I don't thing you get fair value when you do this anyway.

Who closed it?

We bought resale at another Starwood property and closed through a closing company. They handled all the $$$ and paper work - very smooth and easy.

 

[hopetotimeshare]

Correction --- if you buy a SVO mandatory resort resale - you are a member of SVN (and pay the associated fee) and you are able to exchange via the SVN system. As a resale buyer you do not get StarPoints (good for hotel stays, etc.), but you do get StarOptions (used for SVN exchanges).

http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

Vistana Villages is mandatory - Vistana Resort is not. I know nothing about the difference between the 2 resorts - or which one you are asking about.

If a SVO salesperson is telling you info that you cannot exchange if you buy resale at a mandatory resort, then he is giving you misinformation (...what a surprise...).

I guess I am confused about the difference between SVO and SVN and what benefits come with each? I will figure that out in time and decide if it's worth the fee. The people we bought from were paying $99.00 annually.

 

[hopetotimeshare]

Correction --- if you buy a SVO mandatory resort resale - you are a member of SVN (and pay the associated fee) and you are able to exchange via the SVN system. As a resale buyer you do not get StarPoints (good for hotel stays, etc.), but you do get StarOptions (used for SVN exchanges).

http://www.tug2.net/advice/Starwood_Vacation_Network.htm

Vistana Villages is mandatory - Vistana Resort is not. I know nothing about the difference between the 2 resorts - or which one you are asking about.

If a SVO salesperson is telling you info that you cannot exchange if you buy resale at a mandatory resort, then he is giving you misinformation (...what a surprise...).

I guess I am confused about the difference between SVO and SVN and what benefits come with each? I will figure that out in time and decide if it's worth the fee. The people we bought from were paying $99.00 annually.

 

[DeniseM]

I guess I am confused about the difference between SVO and SVN and what benefits come with each? I will figure that out in time and decide if it's worth the fee. The people we bought from were paying $99.00 annually.

SVO - Starwood Vacation Owner
SVN - Starwood Vacation Network

If you bought at Vistana Villages (not Vistana Resort) you are automatically an SVO and a member of the SVN. It's not optional - that's why they are called "mandatory" resorts. You will be charged the SVN membership fee as part of your maintenance fees and you will have the opportunity to use your StarOptions (exchange value of your unit) to exchange into other Starwood Resorts.

Resales, however, cannot be converted to StarPOINTS (hotel points.)

If you bought at Vistana Resort, SVN membership isn't even an option on a resale.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I guess I am confused about the difference between SVO and SVN and what benefits come with each? I will figure that out in time and decide if it's worth the fee. The people we bought from were paying $99.00 annually.

If you bought Vistana Lakes or Cascades, which I believe is what you purchased, I don't think you get that Staroptions benefit. It is not transferable.

Hopefully, your seller did not lead you to believe that. We have been looking at a few different mandatory resorts and think Staroptions is a great way to get some difficult trades. I would like to get DVC resorts as well, and this seems like a good backdoor entry.

 

[hopetotimeshare]

SVO - Starwood Vacation Owner
SVN - Starwood Vacation Network

If you bought at Vistana Villages (not Vistana Resort) you are automatically an SVO and a member of the SVN. It's not optional - that's why they are called "mandatory" resorts. You will be charged the SVN membership fee as part of your maintenance fees and you will have the opportunity to use your StarOptions (exchange value of your unit) to exchange into other Starwood Resorts.

Resales, however, cannot be converted to StarPOINTS (hotel points.)

If you bought at Vistana Resort, SVN membership isn't even an option on a resale.

that is how I underdstood it.

 

[Bill4728]

SVO - Starwood Vacation Owner
SVN - Starwood Vacation Network

If you bought at Vistana Villages (not Vistana Resort) you are automatically an SVO and a member of the SVN. It's not optional - that's why they are called "mandatory" resorts. You will be charged the SVN membership fee as part of your maintenance fees and you will have the opportunity to use your StarOptions (exchange value of your unit) to exchange into other Starwood Resorts.

Resales, however, cannot be converted to StarPOINTS (hotel points.)

If you bought at Vistana Resort, SVN membership isn't even an option on a resale.

Generally, what Denise said is true. But there is something we TUGGERS are just finding out about
called "RE-QUALIFYING".

Re-qualifying means if you own a SVN resort bought resale and then buy another week from the developer, you can, in the purchase contract of the developer week, ask Starwood to re-qualify your resale week. They will do this but you must ask (insist). A re-qualified week is eligible into both SVN options and Star-Points (hotel points). For more info on this see this thread. tug thread

Hope that helps

 

[hopetotimeshare]

If you bought Vistana Lakes or Cascades, which I believe is what you purchased, I don't think you get that Staroptions benefit. It is not transferable.

Thank you, you are right, we did purchase Lakes and we did discuss this with the seller, he actually canceled his membership prior to our agreement to avoid any confusion. We are not ready to do any trading just yet, maybe next year or the year after that so for us, it's okay. This site is so chock full of knowledge, I wish I had all day to just sit and read it (I am on pretty darn to close to all day already!).

 

[jef]

I think that most of your questions were answered, but I'm not sure that anyone addressed bulk spacebanking and wanted to make sure that you were aware of the exchange process should you decided to exchange with RCI or II.

Since the Lakes is a floating weeks phase, rather than reserving a specific week at your resort as you would if you were going to actually use the week yourself, the resort will select a week for you from their exchange inventory and that will be your deposit. You will typically get a week that is not the highest demand (i.e. Christmas, New Year's, Easter etc) as those are reserved for owner's use.