Dave and Robin, What I was refering to is if I purchased a 1 bed unit 81,000 star options every 2 years I would have 162,000 staroptions. I was told I could borrow from one year. So if I woudl have then I could have 162,000 star options in a yr. Which woule be 13,900 more staroptions over the same period as an eoy with 148,100. Dave I have been looking at all posts. I had planned to buy a Marriott I want to go not in the summer but usually in the 3rd week of March. My kids have baseball Little League and AAU and we are usually just left with August. March is still cold in Iowa so we love warm weather. That being said I was worried that I would not get the Marriott week I need. So I started to Look at Starwood. I need to get going ASAP as I want to make sure I can get a reservation for March of 2008. I had made a post about the new Cancun property as I was offered to me by a Starwood rep. Although its not Hawaii we love Cancun. Its just a 3.5 hr flight from DSM and usually its about half the cost. I do thank you for your time.
Rod
Be careful with this assumption in buying resale - I am not sure how it works with resale in borrowing SOs (whether it is even possible with resale). One thing that cannot be done with a resale purchase is combining SOs - they can only be split - this is why (IMO) that you should buy at least 81K resale SOs no matter what.
With the increase in Cancun SOs - this does make this property alot more desirable (although I think Princeville will hold it's value better than Cancun - but that is my opinion - and hope - since we bought there).
The main thing is to buy where you plan to go - whether or not it is resale. I mentioned the 81K SOs at WKORV (1Bd) because the LO studio can possible be more hassle than it is worth - but if you have kids that you feel can be safe in their own studio - then the LO offers benefit. Again, it comes down to your vacation priorities - and of course - cost. It is important to consider these. I personally would recommend buying resale - and buying Mandatory.
If you can go 'off-season' (the low occupancy months) then exchanging into SVN resorts will be easy (except St John, and likely Princeville) - then buy resale Mandatory (Kierland resale is a good buy when you look at the total package - IMO).
If you can't go off-season, then certainly buy where you want to go (even if you decide to buy from SVO) - but there is alot of money to be saved resale. If you buy resale - and later you decide the SVO/SVN system works well - then buy from SVO and requal your resale. I would not recommend buying SVO Voluntary resale (except maybe Princeville) unless you have plans to get to 5* Elite - and you are far from that.
Regardless - be patient - TSs are like buses - if you miss one - another will soon come by. If we were more patient with our first TS (resale WKORV OF) we would have saved $5K, but at least we bought resale (ty TUG).