Should I keep my Vistana ownership?

[amorakels]

Hi I am new here and looking for some advice.

I purchased a Vistana ownership in November of 2023. I don't see the benefit of what I was duped into purchasing. I don't ever seem to have any points, and nothing is ever available to book. After paying my maintenance and club dues along with my mortgage payment I started to really regret this purchase. In the past two years i have only used one week and have 0-star options and 0 club points. On top of that the interest is so high that I'm not making a dent in my principal. I was laid off and could only afford the minimum payments of $350 a month. My loan was for $22,000 and after 2 years of payment I still owe $21,000.

I have started to explore timeshare exit companies and was quoted $7000. I felt like I was back in my timeshare presentation although the company had good reviews. I started to think I should just use that $7000 towards my loan and make the best of my ownership. I know this is a terrible investment but i dont want to mess up my credit. I do see there are some owners who are happy with their purchase. They are able to navigate the complicated booking process. Would love to hear from any tips or tricks to make the best out of a terrible investment. Thanks in advance.

 

[rickandcindy23]

NO exit company is legitimately going to help you. Stay away from all "exit" scams. That's what they are. They will tell you to stop paying. You can do that for free.

 

[amorakels]

NO exit company is legitimately going to help you. Stay away from all "exit" scams. That's what they are. They will tell you to stop paying. You can do that for free.

Thank you. This is what I thought was weird. They told me it was my choice to continue to pay. The thing that really made me wake up was when they said foreclosure are considered to be acceptable. Why would I pay you someone to allow me to get a foreclosure I can do that on my own. I definitely won't be using any exit companies.

 

[andre10056]

The entire timeshare ecosphere is a scam. You were scammed when you bought and, now that you're desperate to get out, you're vulnerable to the next scam: exit companies. They'll take your money and do nothing for you.

I just read your post so, good, you know not to use exit companies.

It sounds like you're not a person with millions of dollars in real estate holdings or whatever. So I might be inclined, without knowing details about you and details about what you own at Vistana and whether it has any vacation value whatsoever (relative to what you're paying), to simply stop paying.

You mentioned that you know that this was a terrible investment. So maybe you thought at one time that's what it was: an investment. Its value is now and will likely always be zero. Check out ebay timeshares for sale to see virtually everyone begging to give away their timeshares. Please take it, I'll pay for your this year's usage, and additionally give you $500. But even that only works if you don't have an underlying mortgage.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Well, I agree with the above, definitely a lot of people want out of Sheraton Flex and are giving it away.

What I advised a relative to do, and she is way better off for it, I told her to buy resale what she really wanted. She bought flex points at Sheraton Broadway Resort and was kicking herself for buying something worthless and overpaying, but what she really wanted was a deeded week oceanfront at Marriott's Ocean Watch at Grande Dunes. She'd stayed there once with me in April via exchange and loved it.

She bought a summer week resale at Grande Dunes and enjoys it every year and stays at Sheraton Broadway Resort for the first week with her Flex options.

She also recently bought more [quite a bit more] of the Flex because it was free and free closing, so why not? Nothing to lose in buying more, and she figured out how to use it. That's half the battle. Now she feels that she's not as much a victim. She paid high interest on that loan for about six months and then took money out of her retirement account to pay it off.

 

[WorldT]

Thank you. This is what I thought was weird. They told me it was my choice to continue to pay. The thing that really made me wake up was when they said foreclosure are considered to be acceptable. Why would I pay you someone to allow me to get a foreclosure I can do that on my own. I definitely won't be using any exit companies.

I think this might be the first time someone said an exit company told them foreclosure was considered an exit. What caused all that honesty?

Vistana will not take back those points they sold you. You have reached the end of the road. Might be time to take the hit and move on.

 

[Jimster480]

Well, I agree with the above, definitely a lot of people want out of Sheraton Flex and are giving it away.

What I advised a relative to do, and she is way better off for it, I told her to buy resale what she really wanted. She bought flex points at Sheraton Broadway Resort and was kicking herself for buying something worthless and overpaying, but what she really wanted was a deeded week oceanfront at Marriott's Ocean Watch at Grande Dunes. She'd stayed there once with me in April via exchange and loved it.

She bought a summer week resale at Grande Dunes and enjoys it every year and stays at Sheraton Broadway Resort for the first week with her Flex options.

She also recently bought more [quite a bit more] of the Flex because it was free and free closing, so why not? Nothing to lose in buying more, and she figured out how to use it. That's half the battle. Now she feels that she's not as much a victim. She paid high interest on that loan for about six months and then took money out of her retirement account to pay it off.

We have 88k options and we use it quite well or elect for club points. Now that I found this forum and people selling; I'm debating if I should buy more and what restrictions I might have on those other points, if I could add them to my main ownership account.
Overall we spent around 34k but have had 36k options for 14k since Jan 2020.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have 88k options and we use it quite well or elect for club points. Now that I found this forum and people selling; I'm debating if I should buy more and what restrictions I might have on those other points, if I could add them to my main ownership account.
Overall we spent around 34k but have had 36k options for 14k since Jan 2020.

Welcome to TUG.

I don't know that there are restrictions. The product has pretty high MF's. If there is a resort you love and want to stay every year and deeded weeks are available, you should buy that deeded week.

What do you book with Flex?

 

[sponger76]

I don't know that there are restrictions.

If purchased resale, there are restrictions on Flex products. They can't be used as StarOptions, so they can only be used to book at the home resorts for that Flex product or exchanged via a personal II account. They can't be banked or borrowed within VSN. They can't be added to a corporate II account. And they can't be elected for Abound points.

 

[Venter]

We have 88k options and we use it quite well or elect for club points. Now that I found this forum and people selling; I'm debating if I should buy more and what restrictions I might have on those other points, if I could add them to my main ownership account.
Overall we spent around 34k but have had 36k options for 14k since Jan 2020.

What kind of options do you have?

 

[DavidnRobin]

don't throw good money after bad

 

[Jimster480]

What kind of options do you have?

StarOptions

don't throw good money after bad

So you think it's not worth to buy more, or I won't be able to roll it in?

 

[Jimster480]

Welcome to TUG.

I don't know that there are restrictions. The product has pretty high MF's. If there is a resort you love and want to stay every year and deeded weeks are available, you should buy that deeded week.

What do you book with Flex?

Thank you! It's amazing that I never found this website in the last years. I searched several times for time-share forums and I only found Reddit groups, Facebook groups, and other useless junk. Search engines are truly broken these days.

We normally book during the week to get the max out of our flex points like from Tuesday to Thursday or Sunday to Wednesday normally Orlando (Almost every Marriott & Sheraton in the area at this point) but we have also been to Myrtle Beach 3x (Broadway Plantation). I haven't used any of the other Marriott resorts that are further away... although I have been to Marco Island (Crystal Shores) but ironically not using my own points.


The biggest thing I have used my ownership for has been booking resorts using getaways on interval, during trade shows. I helped out with my father's business for several years (especially for trade shows), we did two different trade shows each year in Orlando. We needed between two and five units each time (for us and the sales team or vendor execs). So the program definitely paid for itself, just with the savings on getaways, over the last six years.

When I originally purchased, it was specifically because of interval, and this is why I bought the least amount of options possible, since I primarily wanted it for the getaways. My workdays are typically flexible (and my wife is per-diem), so we can move things around and go away in off seasons.