Silver Season Has Value

[kjd]

Often the assumption is that silver season is worthless. The reason usually given is that the yearly maintenance fees are the same as platinum season. That's a valid reason and is one of the disadvantages of the Marriott system. However, chances are that a silver season unit will cost a lot less than a platinum unit and that could offset a lot of the yearly maintenance cost of ownership.

Another frequent reason given is the weather is not very good at a lot of resorts during silver seasons. There's nothing you can do about the weather but traveling during the offseason often avoids crowds and can even result in lower prices. Sometimes you can even catch unexpectedly good weather during your stay. We are currently at Hilton Head Surfwatch which is silver season here. Last two days have been in the mid 70's. Went to Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah for lunch. Got right in with only a few minutes wait. Same with the Sunset Grill last night. That's impossible during season.

Probably the last consideration is whether silver season is a good trader. I own a silver season unit at MGO but have never stayed there. The reason is that I have always traded MGO into a better situation. All in all I've found silver season to work to my advantage. If you can vacation in the offseasons you might want to consider buying silver but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone if you're not willing to use it. Some sellers are practically giving them away on the resale market. You won't be ROFRed by Marriott either. It's another way you can take advantage this really bad resale market.

 

[jimf41]

I agree. I own three silver weeks at Ocean Pointe and they are great weeks to use, good traders with II and have a lot of points in the DC system.

 

[vacationtime1]

I agree. I own three silver weeks at Ocean Pointe and they are great weeks to use, good traders with II and have a lot of points in the DC system.

If these particular weeks are good traders with II and if they have a lot of points in the DC system, that is objective, after-the-fact evidence that they are actually desirable weeks and were miscategorized by Marriott when labeled silver season.

Which is good for you and good for other owners of these particular weeks.

But it does not mean that all silver weeks have or will have these objective attributes of value.

 

[EKniager]

Silver season obviously has value to some group of people as I am sure there are not entire seasons at resorts that are totally unowned/unused. Clearly there were people who bought these weeks from Marriott at developer pricing and for whatever reason are still happy with their decision.

For me, I can think of a couple of locales in South Carolina that make sense to me in Gold, maybe Silver, but in general, I am not a fan of owning in the off-season. My math on value is easy:

• 
  As an owner, can you rent out the week for >/= 2X MF's?

• 
  As a non-owner, can you rent this TS for 50-65% of the rate of the Marriott hotel next door?

• 
  Can you drive there and eliminate the need for airfare and rental car?

• 
  Is it a lockoff and thus the MF's can be amortized over two weeks versus just one?

• 
  Is it an outlier, an undervalued location (by Marriott) and consistently trade better than you'd expect?

There are plenty of properties in off-seasons I would not take for free. And conversely, $15K is not a bad investment for a property that I am confident will produce $1,500 per year of pre-tax rental profits.

 

[dougp26364]

Any week has value if you buy at a resort you like and during the season you want to stay at that resort. For that very reason we own a silver season week at Ocean Pointe and a summer mountain week in Breckenridge. It matters little to us how anyone else might value these weeks. To us they have great value.

One simple rule has held true for us since we purchased our first timeshare. We buy at resorts were we enjoy staying, in the size unit that fits our needs and in the season be want to be at that resort. The exceptions have been a resale purchase I made for giggles on E-bay and maybe buying the three bedroom Grand Chateau unit when we really only need a two bedroom. Of course, our main concern at MGC was unit location and we wanted the location occupied by the three bedroom units. We have made good use of exchanging the one bedroom lock-off but, I understand and accepted the fact that trade value can vary greatly from year to year. It was a risk we decided to take to get the unit location we desired.

If you're buying to trade, then IMO you buying to eventually sell. Trade values vary greatly over time. Ask anyone who bought the cheap South African to exchange weeks how quickly things can change.

 

[Steve A]

I like my Barony Beach silver. I have had it for a decade and have never been there during that season. It's a great trader. The bronze I have at Barony has also gotten me some good, not great, trades.

In a few years when we retire for good (wife and I are both on our second careers) we might actually use them to get out of the Wisconsin winters.

 

[Antny]

Dumb question?

Maybe this is a dumb question or it's been explained before but why don't the MF's reflect your season?

 

[Ireland'sCall]

Silver season

With MF at around $1000 you can take a week in a hotel almost anywere in Europe .
$ 400 in Caanary Islands for instance . Indeed am now of the opinion that even gold weeks are of marginal value ..unless and this is the big plus ... there are more than 2 persons in occupation
G

 

[jimf41]

With MF at around $1000 you can take a week in a hotel almost anywere in Europe .
$ 400 in Caanary Islands for instance . Indeed am now of the opinion that even gold weeks are of marginal value ..unless and this is the big plus ... there are more than 2 persons in occupation
G

Having just returned from a two week visit to Europe I can assure you that there are no Marriott or Marriott quality hotels that will rent a room for a week for $1000. The most inexpensive place we stayed was in Cinque Terre. It was 150 Euros per night not $$$. It was very nice and immaculately clean. It was also five flights up with no elevator and the bed resembled the one I slept on in basic training in 1968.

There are probably a lot of places to stay for $142 per night but I don't think most Marriott owners of any season would want to stay in them.

 

[Steve A]

Ireland's Call:

Not only do I like my silver week, I love my gold Aruba Ocean Club week. Much less crowded. We go over the fourth of July usually so it is one less vacation day charged to leave. This year we traded the Barony silver for the week before the week of the fourth so we will be there two weeks. When we don't use the Aruba week, it always gets us a week in either Kauai or Maui, sometimes in December.

 

[Howiereed]

Silver Season trade

Just traded Ocean Watch 2bdrm Silver Season early October week for Playa Andaluza 2bdrm Mid September week.

 

[BocaBoy]

Maybe this is a dumb question or it's been explained before but why don't the MF's reflect your season?

Because the costs of maintaining the unit do not significantly differ from season to season and costs are what the MF's are designed to cover. Also, I think some states may have laws prohibiting different MF's based on season.

 

[dioxide45]

Maybe this is a dumb question or it's been explained before but why don't the MF's reflect your season?

This is an inherent issue of just about any weeks based system. The points system in a way aims to correct this. Lower seasons required fewer points, the MF for lower seasons costs less because the MF is based on the number of points owned.

 

[mas]

Any week has value if you buy at a resort you like and during the season you want to stay at that resort. For that very reason we own a silver season week at Ocean Pointe and a summer mountain week in Breckenridge. It matters little to us how anyone else might value these weeks. To us they have great value.

Ditto. I would never buy HHI platinum--don't need the crowds, or the heat. But a Gold week would be a nice addition.

 

[Carlsbadguy]

I always lockoff my Silver Season Summit Watch. This year traded the studio side for a 2 bedroom at Wiohai- this was in flexchange about 3 weeks out and the 1 bedroom for a 1 bedroom at Summit Watch mid January.