WKORV-N taxes

[koruman]

I've just purchased an annual 2 bedroom OF week at WKORV-N from the developer (yes, I know resale is cheaper, but I had my reasons).

I didn't purchase on the spot: about 2/52 after I did the tour I bought an Explorer package, which I've now converted from a long distance away.

My question is about the document about county-imposed taxes, which from memory it said were $1500+ for the unit. That is obviously in addition to the $2200 annual fees: my question is is that $1500 divided by 52 or does each owner pay it?

And if you're interested, here are my reasons for buying direct from SVO instead of resale. For short-term cashflow reasons I wanted to finance part of the cost but am not a US resident, and so their finance was convenient (in practice I'll probably pay it off very early). And as an SPG Platinum who may no longer requalify Platinum once I have an annual week in Maui, the lifetime SPG Gold status (ie 3 points per dollar) plus 50,000 Starpoints from the Explorer package, plus 50,000 for not using the Explorer stay at the Westin, plus 125,000 Starpoints for buying, plus another 80,000 points available for purchase is quite compelling: basically 225,000 points for the purchase price.

I read the threads in this forum at length, but I'm one consumer for whom buying from the developer works.

 

[nodge]

Congratulations and welcome to SVN and TUG!

I can't answer your question regarding taxes, but you may win the award for owner most burdened by SVO's call-in only reservation policy.

For the best rooms and availablility remember to call in at 9:00 AM US Eastern Time 12 months out (for reserving your home resort) or 8 months out(when using your StarOptions).

By my calculations, if you are in the Sydney time zone, that means you should call in at 1 AM the next day 12/8 months out as needed.

I found this time zone conversion web site that you may find helpful.

Congrats again!

-nodge

 

[Henry M.]

The annual maintenance fees include the taxes. I don't think they're $2,200 at WKOR-N. That's about what they pay at Princeville. WKORV-N is around $1,600 or $1,700, including the SVN fee.

 

[koruman]

The timezone issue

Nodge, I'm already having nightmares about the 1-2 am reservation slot.

For those of us in Australia, Hawaii is a very convenient destination: not too far away, and only 4 hours ahead of us (well, and a day behind). But reserving at 8 am NYC time will be an annual nightmare.

I'm praying that someday SVO will develop an online reservation system that has, say, 1990s technology. But deep down I know that the current set-up is so that we can subsidise their sales program and I can wear that.

Fortunately for me, my desired weeks are the third of our four school vacations each year (our school year begins at the end of January and ends at the end of November). And the "Spring" vacation is the last week of September and first week of October, which seems to be ultra-low season at the resort. My only worry is how to get back to Australia in time for the start of term: checkout is Saturday, which is already Sunday in Australia, and I think my kids are going to get used to going straight to school from the airport......

BTW, I put off buying until I got confirmation that St Regis Bora Bora's timeshare-designed units are now definitively NOT being sold as timeshares. (Their beach villas have a space for a kitchen). Looks like the owner has instead decided to develop a small number of villas elsewhere to be sold in 3 week blocks at US$750,000 per block.

 

[nodge]

For short-term cashflow reasons I wanted to finance part of the cost but am not a US resident, and so their finance was convenient (in practice I'll probably pay it off very early)

Once you have access to mystarcentral.com, you can view and pay your SVO loan on-line using a credit card (strange how SVO has figured out how to implement that technology, but can't quite grasp the concept of on-line booking. . . )

If you use a Starwood AM EX to pay off that loan (even if you have the cash ready to go to pay it off), you'll buy 30 days or so interest free before you owe your AM EX bill, and you'll also earn a ton of additional StarPoints for using your Starwood AM EX. If you don't already have an AM EX, there is this promotion running that gives you 10000 StarPoints on first use AND a 15000 StarPoint bonus if you spend $15000 within your first six months.

Also, please consider joining TUG. It's the best $15 you'll ever spend.

-nodge

 

[koruman]

Nodge, if we had an SPG Amex in Australia I'd get it but we don't...

And yes, now that I've bought a timeshare I'm going to join TUG.

One last question. I'm going to Maui anyway in late January 2008, as well as October 2008 (although October is only so that I can get the OF unit I've paid for).

My question is, if I instead use my week when I go in late January, I know that I'm not entitled to OF as we are outside the 8-12 month window, but if OF was available would they give me it anyway or would they just say that I have no entitlement to my purchased view at such late notice even if there are OF rooms unsold?

 

[nodge]

Nodge, if we had an SPG Amex in Australia I'd get it but we don't...

Bummer. How about Mastercard?

One last question. I'm going to Maui anyway in late January 2008, as well as October 2008 (although October is only so that I can get the OF unit I've paid for).

My question is, if I instead use my week when I go in late January, I know that I'm not entitled to OF as we are outside the 8-12 month window, but if OF was available would they give me it anyway or would they just say that I have no entitlement to my purchased view at such late notice even if there are OF rooms unsold?

Purchased views are not guaranteed for reservations made less than 8 months out. Period.

If OF were available at check-in you could certainly ask, but you are entirely at the mercy of the check-in staff. You will not get any sort of view confirmation before then. At the time of making your reservation, no one will promise you or confirm anything other than the size of your villa. Just make sure to request OF, then OV, then high floor, etc. when reserving so your requests show up when they get around to assigning rooms.

On the plus side, you don't have to worry about us pesky elite members getting upgraded into a better room ahead of you. SVO has made sure of that.

Good Luck,
-nodge

 

[Denise L]

For those of us in Australia, Hawaii is a very convenient destination: not too far away, and only 4 hours ahead of us (well, and a day behind). But reserving at 8 am NYC time will be an annual nightmare.

Welcome to TUG, and Starwood, too! I think the hours are 9AM Eastern now, so I get to wake up just before 6AM Pacific instead of 5AM, though at 5AM, the competition was a LOT less fierce. At 6AM Pacific, I have to wait 25 minutes for a human .

So, you are going to Maui two weeks next year? Did you buy two weeks, or are you staying in smaller villas?

 

[koruman]

Hi Denise.

Being Australian, we don't earn American-sized salaries but we get European-sized annual vacations on full pay: I get 5 weeks plus 4 weeks conference leave (which I can use at Kaanapali). Consequently two visits to Maui next year is quite feasible.

I've arranged for my wife, my kids and myself to meet my own parents in Maui in January (I was going to use the Explorer package at the Westin, but since I can't upgrade to the Beach Tower I'm going to pay for 5 nights plus 1 free night and just take the extra 50,000 Starpoints in place of an Explorer stay), and hopefully my new ownership will be loaded in the next few weeks in time for me to book my 2008 week for late September or early October at 12 months out.

I've spent a lot of time researching on this website, and I must say I very nearly didn't buy. I was never going to buy on the spot - too much risk of falling for the hard sell - and didn't even take the Explorer package straight away, as I needed to check the tax implications of a US property purchase.

I have serious misgivings about having to get up absurdly early to get 4 places near the pool, and I'm braced for paying a crazy sum for the room to be cleaned daily (I didn't buy WKORV-N only to be less pampered than at the Westin Maui). The pool seemed chilly at WKORV too when we had our tour at Easter.

But my kids are only just starting school, and I figure that
1) we don't need to worry about vacations crowded into too small a room as they grow up,
2) they can grow into Maui: my 5 year old currently loves the steam train, but as he grows older can snorkel, see Haleakala and get to know American kids,
3) it's good for Australian kids to get used to hanging around with their American peers: it can only make them better rounded people.

The only nightmare is TV for Dad and son as he grows up: those of us from Australia / New Zealand / the UK need our fix of the sports we follow (cricket/rugby/soccer) and international news. The first stay will be all about seeing if I can hook up a Slingbox to feed those addictions via broadband. If I can't, I guess I'll be taking a heavy loss on the timeshare.....

 

[Henry M.]

Having owned at WKOR (and now also at WKOR-Nfor several years now, I think oyu will be pleased with our decision. My kids are 16 and 20 now and it is nice to have the room. Maui has really grown on us. We no longer do a lot of the tourist stuff but it has become our second home. We go there several weeks each year.

I expected our son, who is in college, to not want to travel with his parents as much, but he's the one that signs up first when we talk of going to Hawaii. This despite having had appendicitis during our very first visit many years ago. I guess he actually enjoyed convalescing at Kapalua. I am sure we'll be enjoying our timeshare with e kids and their families for a long time to come.

The do have high speed internet access there so hopefully your slingbox will work (giving nightmares to TV executives whose business models depend on localizing programs to certain areas). Daily maid service is $35/day, I believe.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Welcome to TUG - and I am sure you will love your OF unit. As I wrote about a while ago, we rescinded our OF WKORV-N contract and bought WKORV OF resale. For us - the additional $20K cost was not worth the 200K+ StarPoints in incentives buying from SVO - plus their were aspects of the OF units at WKORV that suited us better (which was also discussed in my post).

I am not sure if this was answered - the MFs of ~$2100 for 2008 probably about right since there has been a 10% increase per year - and 2 years ago it was stated to be around $1800. Remember - that this will include your SVN fee of $103. The tax (and SVN fee) is included in the MFs - and is itemized in the MF bill, but not listed separately.

There was a good post about taxes as part of the MFs - and whether in the US these could be deducted. I believe it was TUG Moderator Bill (very knowledgable) stated - that for US taxes - the tax had to be itemized separately from the MF bill in order to be tax deductable. The amount of this tax as part of the MF is not that much. For ours - it was about $150. I am not sure if it these taxes you are asking about - or the tax you paid in your purchase - but thought I'd chime in.

As to giving up your OF unit because of the being less than 8-months away? I would recommend not doing this - you will likely end-up with an IV/OV unit - and this is not why you spent a $20K premium to buy OF. There may be other ways around this - if you were an Elite member - you could try and play that card (eventhough the claim is that this upgrade is not available). You could try and talk with the sales manager - perhaps they could work something for you since you just bought one of the most expensive VOIs in the SVO system. Renting, or a direct exchange may also work out.

Slingbox will work well for you - they have internet connections at WKORV-N.

We all certainly have different priorities and vacation needs - we would never pay a daily fee for maid service - once a week for sheet and towel exchange is fine - we'd rather have our privacy than dealing with maids coming in everyday at various times

 

[Denise L]

koruman,

You will LOVE your OF week and I'm sure that you may even be thinking about two weeks at a time some day. Don't worry about the lounge chairs if you travel off-season, and I don't recommend getting up early to reserve them. We just wander down later in the morning, put our things near a tree or on the grass, and head off to the beach. With young kids, we don't actually spend a lot of time sitting (if at all) on the lounge chairs .

Enjoy your trips! You'll see the whales in January and October is a nice, quiet time to visit Maui.

 

[koruman]

At the risk of being flamed (and having just spent a fortune on Maui OF) I've been yearning to ask "why is Maui the ultimate destination for Americans?"

I bought Maui because:

1) Princeville has too much rain,
2) Princeville is a voluntary resort, and
3) It's nice to have Whalers Village and Lahaina nearby.

But ever since I first visited the islands as a teenager in the 80s, I've always considered Maui to be less beautiful and less exotic than Kauai, but also less rainy and with better infrastructure. To be frank, if they'd put the Westin Princeville Villas on the oceanfront at Poipu I might well have bought there instead of WKORV-N, but I was never going to buy the future Sheraton Poipu timeshare on the wrong side of the road from the beach.

My other question is whether they are ever really going to build an oceanfront walkway from WKORV to Black Rock: I love the stroll between the Sheraton, the Westin and the Hyatt and it would be great to be able to go to Whalers Village on foot.

 

[wannagotoo]

We walk between the two daily. There is a boardwalk between WKORV and the last resort. At the last resort we walk up the parking lot to the walkway that is beside the golf course (pedestrian path, not cart path). From there, go over a little bridge that gets you to the Sheraton. Walk through the Sheraton to the boardwalk and then on to Whaler's Village. You are correct in that it is not a clearly defined path but it still gets you there.

 

[califgal]

Koruman,
I would say Maui is a top destination for Americans on the west coast because we can get there on a single 5 hour flight. My family loves Maui because (besides the obvious beauty), it's not as hectic as Honolulu, Lahiana is charming , and we enjoy Whaler's Village . I have to say that WKORV does feel like a home away from home and we only own EOY!

 

[ani111]

Koruman ,
if u dont mind sharing how much did u pay for your VO?

thanks
-AD

 

[DavidnRobin]

Koruman ,
if u dont mind sharing how much did u pay for your VO?

thanks
-AD

Not OP, but SVO has sold OF WKORV-N around ~$69-74K depending on when it was purchased

 

[MON2REY]

We were told by the sales manager $79,800 when we were there in July.

 

[ani111]

great thanks!

 

[DavidnRobin]

We were told by the sales manager $79,800 when we were there in July.

This price may depend on whether or not they are actually still selling these units. During an Owners Update at WKORV (Noc 06)- they told us that our unit was some ridiculous price (mid-80s), but none were for sale...

Of course when I asked if this was the price then why wouldn't they use their ROFR when they are being sold resale in the low 50s - blank stare...

Funny - when we bought/rescinded WKORV-N OF at ~$74K (Dec 05), the salesman said they were going to >$80K next month (so buy now...) and of course they dropped to ~$69K - if they are truly ~$80K - they must be either close to sold out -or SVO is doing the price creep.

 

[CaliDave]

If you want your family to be well rounded. January is prime time for Football, Hockey and Basketball. Now those are great sports

If you'd be willing to buy at Starwood Priceville.. if it was in Poipu. Did you consider Marriott Waiohai? Its a gorgeous resort on one of the best beaches in Hawaii.

 

[DavidnRobin]

here is a recent WKORV-N OF sale of $68K (Sept 6th)

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54572

so... the salesperson maybe giving out misinformation (what a shock!)

 

[MON2REY]

This price may depend on whether or not they are actually still selling these units. During an Owners Update at WKORV (Noc 06)- they told us that our unit was some ridiculous price (mid-80s), but none were for sale...

This was an owners update that we attended and they were trying to talk us into buying an EOY OF for $39,900 (50%) vs. the normal 60-67% of EY price.

 

[MON2REY]

here is a recent WKORV-N OF sale of $68K (Sept 6th)
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54572

I probably missed it but I don't see where this was for an OF. Again, when we were there the OV is now going for $68,900 (the price many of us paid for the OF).

 

[saluki]

If you'd be willing to buy at Starwood Priceville.. if it was in Poipu.

...seems to be a popular Freudian slip...