Voa's change w/ resale?

[rosema1268]

I am looking at resale prices and notice the voas are less than what we were quoted to pay? is this true do they change w/ resale?

 

[Stefa]

I am looking at resale prices and notice the voas are less than what we were quoted to pay? is this true do they change w/ resale?

Not sure what voas are, but if you mean the annual maintenance fees (MFs), a lot of resale ads give the wrong amount. Everyone pays the same MFs for the same size unit at the same resort.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I am looking at resale prices and notice the voas are less than what we were quoted to pay? is this true do they change w/ resale?

What is a VOA?
Fee-wise - everything is the same. Cost-wise - the resale will be a lot less.

In buying what is known as a 'Mandatory' like WKORV-N - there are a few main things that you get when buying from SVO than buying resale:

1) StarOption (SO) to StarPoint (SP) conversion:
SO = TimeShare points
SP = Hotel points

Essentially, if you choose not to use your SOs - or use them to do an Starwood Vacation Network (SVN) exchange - you can convert them to SPs. For example - the WKORV-N 2Bd LO comes with 148.1K SOs that can be converted to 80K SPs to say in hotels. Now - look at the value of SPs on Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) website - this is worth 5 nites at 16K SP per nite. Look at where you can stay for 16K SPs/nite - not as nice as the 7 days you just gave up (or 14 days if you use 1 side of the LO -and then the other) at WKORV-N. No way - no how. While nice to have this option if you need it - not a great deal.

2) The SP incentives that they gave you for buying from SVO.
They gave you 175K SPs for buying (woohoo) - you just paid about $15-20K for those SP over what resale cost is. Is $15-20K worth that many SPs? No.
Certainly you can make the most of it and maximize your value by being smart - but no way at todays SP valuation that they are worth that much.

You can build SPs by getting a SPG AMEX card.

3) Gold Status (for hotel use) - the benefits of this status is just not worth it.

4) Building Elite status - again - you have to get to 4* or even 5* Elite to make this benefir worth while (that is equal to having 359K or 559K SOs - a long way to go - and costly). There is a way to retro resales into SVN, but I would not try and figure that out yet. Besides you have to buy resale to make this work.

5) You cannot combine resale SOs - the way to get around this is to buy at a minimum 81K SOs resale.

What does a 'Mandatory' resort mean? WKORV-N is a Mandatory resort - if you buy resale - you get the same benefit as if you bought from SVO (not all resorts are Mandatory) - this allows you to use SVN to exchange your SOs for other stays in the SVN network. If you plan to do this often - then consider buying resale Westin Kierland (another M resort) instead of WKORV-N or WKORV - it is less expensive with lower MFs.

So - while I know this is a lot to comprehend - it is a no brainer. Do not let your rescind period lapse. In fact - I would not even discuss any of this with the SVO salesperson (they do not what to lose a sale) - just rescind. There are plenty of resales out there - and more all the time.

btw - join TUG - the money TUG just saved you is worth the $15 membership fee.

Best of luck to you.

 

[rosema1268]

thanks

thanks it is alot of information to comprehend and how to go about getting the resale already saw some on redweek and requalifying.. that's the part i need to figure out.

voa's were explained like hoa's- vacation owner associations.

i would think i'd want to do WKORV because id want that as always my home base.. i understand i'd save more the other way around. but is'nt this property worth the biggest exchange 148,100 points.

I now understand how the conversion value of 148100 pts goes down to 80000 pts which when explained there i did understand it but didn't realize that yes we'd be losing some that way

we have the am ex so we are building points already.. it just seemed like 175000 was alot of bonus pts yes worth 10-15K as they advised but as i am looking i can get this property for more than half of what we paid..

i am just a bit nervous about beginning this process and it being safe.. but thanks for all the valuable info

 

[DavidnRobin]

thanks it is alot of information to comprehend and how to go about getting the resale already saw some on redweek and requalifying.. that's the part i need to figure out.

voa's were explained like hoa's- vacation owner associations.

i would think i'd want to do WKORV because id want that as always my home base.. i understand i'd save more the other way around. but is'nt this property worth the biggest exchange 148,100 points.

I now understand how the conversion value of 148100 pts goes down to 80000 pts which when explained there i did understand it but didn't realize that yes we'd be losing some that way

we have the am ex so we are building points already.. it just seemed like 175000 was alot of bonus pts yes worth 10-15K as they advised but as i am looking i can get this property for more than half of what we paid..

i am just a bit nervous about beginning this process and it being safe.. but thanks for all the valuable info

Not a problem - there is a lot to learn. Everyone here at TUG are still learning because SVO keeps throwing curves (like changing Elite benefits and spinning it like it is a good thing - or devaluation of SPs that continues)

StarOptions (SOs) are not the same as StarPoints (SPs) - so please be aware of the difference. SOs are for TimeShare stays - SPs are for Hotel stays. 175K SPs are a lot of SPs - we have almost 300K.

We did buy from SVO - but after we already bought 3 resales - there was a reason for this (requal/retro), but I would not worry about requalifying for now - unless you have an incredible desire to get to 5* Elite (and lots of money to spend).

Sounds like WKORV-N or WKORV will work for you. Be patient - if you rescind - you will have plenty of time. TimeShares are like buses - if you miss one - another one is coming.

Also, there are other TS programs out there - we like SVO, but others may also fit you better. Just spend time doing some research first.

 

[Bill4728]

i am just a bit nervous about beginning this process and it being safe.. but thanks for all the valuable info

You right to be nervous. You're spending a ton of money. So the best advice anyone can give you is to rescind now (while you can). Do your homework to find you if you want to buy resell or directly from Starwood. In the end you may choose to buy from starwood but do so only after you'd looked at all your options.

PS the deal you got from Starwood, which they said was today only was not today only. It is a common lie the salemen use to pressure you into a sale. You may have to jump thru some hoops but if you want that same deal next week or next month, you'll be able to get it. Although after review, I'll bet you choose to buy resale and save the $20,000.