Westin Resale Advice for Vistana

[ptravel]

TUG Westin Experts,

We are Marriott owners of 3 Platinum Lock Offs but we really enjoy the Westin timeshares when we are lucky enough to trade for one via II.

We are considering a Westin Resale purchase, primarily to acquire Star Options so we can trade into Westin Maui and Westin St. John.

We are considering these two options:

1. Vistana Bella, EY 2 BR Non-Lockoff, 81,000 Star Options, Prime Season, $1500 Purchase Price, $1300 MFees, $325 Closing/Transfer Fees.

2. Vistana Bella, EY 2 BR LockOff, 81,000 Star Options, High Season, $1000 Purchase Price, $1500 M. Fees, $325 Closing/Transfer Fees.

We are very flexible in our travel plans and can travel any time of year.

I would love to hear your thoughts and advice regarding this resale purchase consideration as we have a basic understanding of the Westin/Vistana product but have much to learn.

Thanks!!

 

[Henry M.]

If I could afford it, I would prefer to buy a WKORV unit and trade it ocassionally to St. John.

Here's my thought process for that. The initial purchase price is received verable if I ever want to sell it, so as long as I had the money to spend, I,wouldn't necessarily go,for the cheapest. The increased purchase price will give you two things:

1.) Hawaii would be your home resort, so you could make reservations 12 months out for whenever you want to go. Whale season is nice and high demand.

2.) You can only rent out your home resort if you end up not using a week. WKORV actually rents for significantly more than the maintenance fee. In Orlando you might nt even recover the maintenance fee.

Additionally, I believe in buying where you actually want to go. You never know how things will change in the future. If everything fell apart, I'd be happy going to WKORV for the rest of my life. That is not the case with Orlando for me.

Of course if you will always trade, and you are always traveling off-season, then there's little value in the ability to rent for a profit or getting home resort reservation privileges. Orlando is the cheapest acquisition cost. WKV would be a little more expensive but lower maintenance fees. I would consider WKV too, because I happen to like the property a lot too (buy where I'd go again).

 

[Rsauer3473]

We purchased two 2 bdrm weeks at SVV Bella and Key West in 2014 for a total of $1,000 using TUG marketplace (one cost $1,000 and the other was free.) We use the 67,100 SOs each for two weeks at Kaanapali Villas North studio for two weeks. We also own at Westin Kaanapali. Given the SOs you get, your deal sounds good. We have never tried the Caribbean and do not know how easy it is to get at 7 months with Star Options.

 

[vacationtime1]

StarOption trades into Hawaii are great -- when they work.

We have had excellent luck exchanging into WKORV,WKORVN, and WPORV during off season. Not so good during holidays and summers. OP says they are fine traveling any time of the year, so their proposed strategy will likely work, at least in the short run.

We did a similar analysis before purchasing. emuyshondt's analysis is excellent; there is significant value to being able to rent and there is significant value to actually wanting to vacation where you own and can always get a reservation. We can also rent our Kierland platinum units at a significant premium to MF's; we realize an ROI of about 15% on our capital when we rent instead of exchange. Kierland is also of greater interest to us as a vacation destination than is Orlando. Both of these points would be very important if the trading rules change, or if even off-season trades become less available.

But the cheap mandatory FL properties are the cheapest way to get into the StarOption game.

 

[ptravel]

Thank you for the excellent feedback. I have family members who live in Phoenix and we stay with them while traveling to the Scottsdale area which makes Kierland less attractive to us.

I would like to ask for more input regarding the potential success I may have regarding trading these 81,000 Star Options to Hawaii or St. John. We are ok with off season but even so, how likely would those trades be able to actually happen? I have read other posters previously who say they stay up until midnight for several weeks to try to get first shot at trades like I'm looking to do.

 

[dioxide45]

A lot depends on the time of the year you are planning to travel. If in the prime season or holidays, don't buy SVV with plans to use StarOptions to Hawaii or WSJ. If in shoulder or off season, then you will probably be okay.

We bought SVV Bella worth 81K SOs. Buying a prime season week is the key since that is the lowest.

 

[lizap]

I know you said WKV wasn't as desirable for you, but it makes a lot of sense as you would pay more initially but your MFs would be significantly less. The studio side has significant trading power in II. I have traded it before for a 2 BR Marriott on the beach in south FL. We have owned WKV for several years now, but have only been there once. Have had excellent results using our SOs for other resorts, including WKORV and WSJ.

 

[jhac007]

I know you said WKV wasn't as desirable for you, but it makes a lot of sense as you would pay more initially but your MFs would be significantly less. The studio side has significant trading power in II. I have traded it before for a 2 BR Marriott on the beach in south FL. We have owned WKV for several years now, but have only been there once. Have had excellent results using our SOs for other resorts, including WKORV and WSJ.

Great news! I am now a new owner at WKV and my intent is to use my home resort on the even years and use my SO's to get into WKORV on the odd years. So it sounds like getting into WKORV during the off season at eight months out is very practical.

Jim

 

[vacationtime1]

Rather than reserving at WKORV, I would suggest reserving at WKORVN instead. They are adjacent and share facilities, but some of the units at WKORV have lousy (read: parking lot) views. WKORVN does not share this problem, or at least not nearly to the same extent.

Exchangers (including StarOption exchangers) can be assigned any unit, so reserving at WKORVN will decrease your odds of getting a really bad view.

 

[jhac007]

Rather than reserving at WKORV, I would suggest reserving at WKORVN instead. They are adjacent and share facilities, but some of the units at WKORV have lousy (read: parking lot) views. WKORVN does not share this problem, or at least not nearly to the same extent.

Exchangers (including StarOption exchangers) can be assigned any unit, so reserving at WKORVN will decrease your odds of getting a really bad view.

Ok thanks! Actually I knew WKORVN was the best request however in my zeal I failed to note that in my former post. I have been checking daily for WKORVN at eight months out as a dry run.

Jim

 

[paluamalia]

I recently sold my 81000 Vistana villages Bella unit. The new owner requested that I make a reservation 8 months out at WKORV OR WKORVN in this case mid June. I was able to reserve a one bedroom. Availability showed as very limited, so I grabbed it at midnight.
I thInk a 2 bedroom would be harder.

 

[dioxide45]

TUG Westin Experts,

We are Marriott owners of 3 Platinum Lock Offs but we really enjoy the Westin timeshares when we are lucky enough to trade for one via II.

We are considering a Westin Resale purchase, primarily to acquire Star Options so we can trade into Westin Maui and Westin St. John.

We are considering these two options:

1. Vistana Bella, EY 2 BR Non-Lockoff, 81,000 Star Options, Prime Season, $1500 Purchase Price, $1300 MFees, $325 Closing/Transfer Fees.

2. Vistana Bella, EY 2 BR LockOff, 81,000 Star Options, High Season, $1000 Purchase Price, $1500 M. Fees, $325 Closing/Transfer Fees.

We are very flexible in our travel plans and can travel any time of year.

I would love to hear your thoughts and advice regarding this resale purchase consideration as we have a basic understanding of the Westin/Vistana product but have much to learn.

Thanks!!

Option 1 is a better deal given the lower MF of the dedicated 2BR unit over the lock off type. I do however think that purchase price is a little high. I think you should be able to get a 2BR dedicated unit for less than $1000. You just have to be patient and know what it is you are looking for. You may often find units that are mislabeled or where they don't know that they are really selling a mandatory Bella or Key West unit. Just keep an eye out. They key is buying a true Prime 2BR dedicated unit. That is where the best MF/point ratio is for Bella or Key West.