Trying to sell Sheraton timeshare, help!!

[gena]

OK, since my husband and I are now self-employed, entire weeks away aren't really in our forseeable future. Our kids are young, so we're thinking selling is the best route to go.

I have a question on staroptions vs. starpoints. Starpoints are hotel points, and Staroptions are points that you use if you want to reserve at a resort other than your own, right? Can someone clarify this for me?

Also, if we have traded in a year and are awaiting confirmation from our exchange company, would that week remain with us or go with someone who might buy our timeshare?

Thanks!

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

OK, since my husband and I are now self-employed, entire weeks away aren't really in our forseeable future. Our kids are young, so we're thinking selling is the best route to go.

I have a question on staroptions vs. starpoints. Starpoints are hotel points, and Staroptions are points that you use if you want to reserve at a resort other than your own, right? Can someone clarify this for me?

Thanks!

I'm self-employed, and since becoming self-employed we do more timesharing and travel than before.

 

[vacationtime1]

You are correct on the distinction between StarPoints and StarOptions.

When (if) you sell, keeping or transferring your deposited week is negotiable. You will probably not get full value if you transfer it, so you should probably keep it. You will have to maintain an Interval account until you use the week.

But why sell? You have the perfect situation -- you have small kids and can drive to your Orlando TS. That combination stretches your travel budget.

 

[Stefa]

You are correct on starpoints vs. staroptions. Be aware that for most Starwood resorts the ability to use staroptions to trade into other resorts does not transfer with a resale. (The ability to trade for starpoints never transfers.)

You can keep the week you have banked with II or you can give it to the new owner. That is up to you.

There is a forum for Starwood resorts that may give you more and better answers. Maybe one of the mods will move this thread for you.

 

[Denise L]

If you own at one of the mandatory resorts (Bella or Key West), then the Staroptions would transfer, but not the Starpoint conversion option. If you own at one of the voluntary resorts (Amelia, St. Augustine), the new owner would not get any Staroptions or Starpoint conversion option. That will significantly lower the resale value.

I've read that if you have a deposited week without a confirmed exchange, then it might be harder to transfer the week to you. I actually bought a resale week with banked weeks and haven't been able to get them transferred to my personal Interval account (but that might be because I am not forceful enough when it comes to Interval). However, you could always works something out with the buyer and still keep your week somehow. You'd just have to put it in the contract that you are keeping the deposited week. Or, you could also make it part of the sale if you didn't want it.

It sounds like you could try and keep your week and use Staroptions to go elsewhere within the Starwood Vacation Network, or else you could convert to Starpoints every other use year. There are a lot of Starwood owners on TUG who can help you get the most out of your ownership if you decide to keep your week!

 

[DeniseM]

This is a Starwood resort so I am going to move your post to the Starwood board. For lots of info. about how Starwood works, see the FAQ at the top of the board.

The main problem with selling your timeshare is that you will only get a fraction of what you paid for it - especially in this economy. You might want to consider hanging around and learning more about how to get the most out of your ownership, instead of selling it for a big loss.

And................. Welcome to TUG!

 

[pianodinosaur]

Don't sell. Enjoy your timeshare. Starwood is a great company. I am also self employed and I need the time off.

 

[James1975NY]

I strongly encourage using the timeshare. I have quite a bit of experience with the resale market and sellers are getting about $5k-$7k on a two bedroom that provides for 81,000 StarOptions at the Villages

 

[pointsjunkie]

you don't have to use your timeshare for complete weeks. go for long weekends. you will be able to get 2-3 mini vacations that way.we did that the first year and we went away 4 times.we were very flexible where we would go and it worked out well. you could drive to sbp, svv, svr,vistana beach club, pga. if you have small kids if they are not in the school system yet then you can go on off times.

barbra

 

[tomandrobin]

If you can afford to keep the timeshare, I would also encourage you to keep it. You will be vacationing again, especially with young kids. When I became self employed the first year I was buried. But that hard work paid off, and I am able to take mutiple vacations a year. Don't rush to make decision based on this year, you have to look at the next 10 years.

 

[LisaRex]

Timeshares are like automobiles -- they depreciate the second you buy them. If you bought from the developer, you overpaid. But you will never be able to recoup that money. So now you're left with MFs, which is (I hope) less than you could possibly rent the unit out for. So before I'd sell at a huge loss, I'd ask friends and relatives if they have any interest in using the TS for the cost of MFs. Or I'd advertise it here or on Redweek for slightly above the MFs. Then if you can get through the next few years, you can start using it again.

BTW, what Sheraton do you own? If it's mandatory and do want to sell, you'll be able to fetch more, as I'm sure you know.

Good luck to you.

 

[DeniseM]

BTW, what Sheraton do you own? If it's mandatory and do what to sell, you'll be able to fetch more, as I'm sure you know.

Lisa - Sorry, but that info. can't be posted here since the poster is trying to sell, but you could email them for that info.

 

[gena]

Thanks all!

Thanks all for the thoughts and advice. I need to do more homework about being able to use long weekends instead of full weeks.

We aren't close enough to drive to our home resort, but I'd love to be able to go to some other resorts. I'll check out the Sheraton stuff on TUG and on Redweek.

 

[gena]

Can you utilize long weekends at other than your home resort? We are 13 hours away from Vistana, it's not driveable for us.

 

[James1975NY]

Can you utilize long weekends at other than your home resort? We are 13 hours away from Vistana, it's not driveable for us.

Currently, the closest location would be the Sheraton Broadway Plantation which is an SVN resort. But yes, at 90-days in advance you can check inventory for less than 7-nights