What Marriot to buy and how to find?

[Corruptid Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Corruptid]

Hi all

First timer here so sorry if a lot of questions. We are looking at getting into a timeshare for our family of 4, with the plan of using it once every 3 years but trading using Marriot system or II for other locations the rest of the time. We are located in Vancouver Canada so are considering Marriotts in California, Hawaii (might be a dream since costs are high) and Arizona as home base. We have two girls just starting kindergarten so sooner or later will have to travel closer to the high seasons so being able to trade into these weeks would be nice but missing school for week isn't the end of the world. Our budget for this is 12-18k.

Questions:
1. With Marriot is a fixed week or floating week better for trading with Marriot and/or II?
2. Do the various Marriott resorts have similar trading power with in Marriot exchange? From what I read in II forum it would seem Marriotts have different trading power in II. (Hawaii strongest?).
3. Is it more effective to buy the lower price Marriott outside our area (like Florida) and just trade it away?
4. What site(s) best for Marriot timeshare resales? Is EBay safe? What site is good to get current resale values?
5. Is Marriott the best option or better timeshares or option out there?

Will stop at 5 questions for now

Thanks very much
Kara

[murtot Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close murtot]

I am certainly not in a position to answer any of those questions as I am new also, but I would like to add one.

If I were to buy the Grand Chateau in LV, how easy/difficult would it be to trade to other Marriotts in say Hawaii? Or is a better strategy to just buy at the location you hope to use the most and trade when the occassion suits?

Cheers

Murray

[murtot Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close murtot]

I might add, that I find Ebay safe to use. Just do a bit of due diliegence on the item and the seller. I have never had a problem.

Murray

[dgonza Member Find all posts View Profile Close dgonza]

I second that ebay is safe. I bought my timeshare on ebay for $152 + Closing costs + MF's for a grand total of $1333.00 Its a 2 bedroom Fixed Red Week #25..(Middle of June) When using ebay just make sure that they have done lots of timeshare sales in the past, and that they have a good rating. The one I bought from had over 1000 timeshare sales and a rating of 100% so I was comfortable with the transaction. By the way I used the home resort this Summer and was very satisfied. I just joined II and am looking to exchange next year. From what I see, I am very excited about the prospects. Sorry, I dont know anything about Marriotts.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

murtot

Or is a better strategy to just buy at the location you hope to use the most and trade when the occassion suits?

It is most certainly better to buy at a location that you would be happy to visit, most years. This way, if you are unable to get an exchange, for what ever reason, you would still be happy visiting your timeshare. If you do get it, that's great. Either way, you are happy.

[murtot Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close murtot]

thanks Angela. I was specifically wondering about which ones have the most trading power.

thanks

Murray

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

thanks Angela. I was specifically wondering about which ones have the most trading power.

thanks

Murray

Quite a few of them are good for trading. ......

First off, Marriott has a 24 day preference period. So, for the first 24 days that a Marriott is deposited into II, only other Marriott's will be able to exchange into it. That increases your chances quite a bit, if you own a Marriott.


I have to say that I often wonder if there is a huge difference in trading power, from one Marriott to another? I don't really see it, with my own.

If there is such a thing, You would be hard pressed to truly figure out how II/Marriott, was considering it. But, a good guess would be the high demand areas/resorts, during platinum season. As well as the condition/amenities/newness, of the resort.

A few examples......Hawaii....winter/summer, St Kitts & St Thomas....winter, Aruba....winter, Park City & Tahoe....winter. Newport Beach...summer, Hilton Head....summer, Spain/France....summer.

If I had to guess, Id' guess they are very good traders. I am sure there are others....Palm Beach, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale....winter, come to mind. Also, Breckenrdge, & Vail...winter. See, I feel that there are many.

As I said, I think you would be hard pressed to really figure out the different trading power of Marriott's. Of course, holidays aside!

You best bet is to buy where you like to vacation!!!! Can't stress that enough!!!!

[Art Member Find all posts View Profile Close Art]

On the buy where you want to go side, Orlando is one area where that may not hold. Orlando is seriously overbuilt, so except for the primest of prime weeks, it is readily available in trade. Of course, from Vancouver, Orlando won't be on your short list anyway.

I love my Marriott weeks, but for someone on the West Coast, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at the World Mark Resorts. They have a lot resorts in that area, have a pretty good trading system and seem to have decent trading power. And, for your first purchase, World Mark will also be less costly than Marriott on the whole. Yes, World Mark does have a presence in Hawaii.

At 12 to 18 K, you could easily get the World Mark of your choice resale, but a Marriott would be a more difficult matter. Not that Marriott's aren't available for resale in that range, but that the weeks you appear to be want might get grabbed by Marriott via right of first refusal.

An interesting Marriott week to consider would be a gold (summer) week at Summit Watch in Park City, UT. These seem to be readily available under 10K. These units can be locked off so one can actually get two weeks in exchange.

Where to look - TUG (classifieds usually have pretty realistic pricing), RedWeek, EBay, MyResortNetwork. The basic rule of timeshare resales is no matter what the listing price, make an offer that suits your needs.

Art

[murtot Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close murtot]

Great info and advice. Thanks kindly everyone.

Murray

[Columbia Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Columbia]

Where to look....

For info on buying Worldmark, also check WorldMark Owners Community.

There is a lot of information there on how to buy Worldkmark on the resale market as well as some actual listings.

Also try Craig's List at craigslist: san francisco bay area classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events For Worldmark, try going to any of the cities on the west coast. There are lots of Worldmark owners in those areas. Many of the listings are overpriced, but people also report finding great bargains.

I haven't personally looked for Marriotts on craigslist, but I would give it a try also.

[KenK Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close KenK]

Marriott managed T/Ss do not have a point system ( except for the Marriott Rewards Travel Points- available to everyone who joins, BUT not available for returning a week to Marriott for points exchange if yu buy resale.

Don't worry about the points, anyway, the resale costs so much less only a very few who kow how to squeeze the most value from thosw points feel the extra costs are worth the difference in the developer pricing.

Since Marriott doesn't have points, you will need to try to determine how strong a week you will need to buy. You say you will travel with four. Here are some hints:

Buying a lock out week will get you 2 or 3 weeks for your one maint fee. And nearly all the time, you will probably get an upgrade of one size unit via Interval. ( A usual lock out is a 2 bed 2 bath with L/O to a sleep 4 one bedroom and a sleep 2 studio ( that will accept 4 but not in private).

You will probably have a hard time finding a fixed week. So...the float period needs to have some strength to trade well. Usually, the strongest red weeks are called Platinium by Marriott. Just below that is a Gold level float which USUALLY is also a red week ( but not always). Next in modern Marriotts, the color Silver Float...also red weeks, but may have more yellow mixed in ( Yellow is a weaker color as seen by Interval). Bronze is a week float period....works well when you have super flexibility. Marriott sells Bronze lock out weeks direct fo $1500.....but the maint fees are super high ( like all Marriotts)

So....you need to find a strong float period. Someone said you live in Calif ....and I would recommend you check out Desert Springs ONE. They are lock outs, and attached to a fantastic resort. But make sure the float period you pick is attached to some real good weeks......not in the middle of summer....you know how hot Palm Desert gets in the summer? Thats a float period to avoid....even for free...as the maint is going to still be high.


We really like the units in Newport ( Irvine)...next to Laguna & Corona Del Mar.......but they are not lock outs.


As mentioned above, try to avoid very overbuilt areas....like Orlando, Williamsburg and Branson.


S Fl has all red time in the II system for Marriotts. The new MArco Island units are (IMO) very overpriced....and are still in construction....they may trade well ( except in the fall & summer- very hot & storms)

Both Marriott Ocean Point (Singer Island-Palm Beach County & Beach Place (Fort LAuderdale) are lock off units....(some Singer units are 3 bed lockouts) and from what I read......are super traders.

Although all red time in S Fl....you still need to use the float correctly to get the best trading power. So...if you feel the Plat week resale is still to much, you can look for a Gold or Silver ( only OP has Silver, not BP)....and pick the best week you can find in that period.

ie- BP red gold includes Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and many other holidays. II sees these weeks as strong. You will call MArriott and pick a week in your float like those holidays and lock out the unit. Now you have two weeks.

This year II gave an AC for a week ( even a one bedroom lockout) in the gold red period for Thanksgiving week ( # 46 or 47 it varies).

So...for the one week in, you would get 3 weeks out. ( The II bonus week is an AC and they will charge you $$ according to the size rooms you request. You will not be allowed to trae the AC for BP....

Pricing.....I've seen the SE Fl weeks (red or silver) go for unter $10,000 often. Marriott ROFR seems to kick in on the gold BP at about $7500 and Plat at $12500.


Less expensive Plat weeks are seen a Marriott Manor Club ( non L/Os) in Williamsburg. ( $7500 ) Reported SOME were ROFR at $7000 by Marriott...but not all.

[slim04 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close slim04]

If you get anything in Platinum and reserve a decent week (with maybe the exception of Orlando), you shouldn't have much problems getting a Hawaii week. The only problem is that it is very difficult to get 2BR in Hawaii because their are so many lockoffs. If you definitely need a 2BR, maybe you should just go ahead and buy in Hawaii.

[slim04 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close slim04]

I personally think the best Marriott value is Manor Club Sequel, which is a lockout in Williamsburg. Great resort, free golf, lots of children's activities at the resort and in the area. Also, it will only cost about $10K to 11K.

Slightly more expensive, but also good values are the Marriott's in Palm Springs and Scottsdale. They are mostly lockoff too. If you reserve in Feb. or March, Hawaii should be pretty easy to get.

I probably would pass on Newport Beach because of the absurd platinum season. The Platinum season their includes Sept through Dec., where Sept & Oct. are really shoulder seasons, and Nov. and Dec. are off-season. So you have a bunch of people trying to get those summer months, with preference for people who own multiple weeks there.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I personally think the best Marriott value is Manor Club Sequel, which is a lockout in Williamsburg. Great resort, free golf, lots of children's activities at the resort and in the area. Also, it will only cost about $10K to 11K.

Slightly more expensive, but also good values are the Marriott's in Palm Springs and Scottsdale. They are mostly lockoff too. If you reserve in Feb. or March, Hawaii should be pretty easy to get.

I probably would pass on Newport Beach because of the absurd platinum season. The Platinum season their includes Sept through Dec., where Sept & Oct. are really shoulder seasons, and Nov. and Dec. are off-season. So you have a bunch of people trying to get those summer months, with preference for people who own multiple weeks there.

We owned at the MDSV-I and were a single week owner. I can tell you from experience that it was very hard to make reservations in early March. We used an atomic clock exactly twelve months out but, by the time we got through, all weeks were gone so we had to try a week later and another week later again.

We finally got rid of the timeshare because of the difficulty in reserving our week for our own use. I don't know about February or other months.

It is true that a reserved week in March will get you in HI. We hated to give up our timeshare in the desert but you need more than one week to be successful. NCVs is even worse for the summer vacation weeks!

You need to buy two or three weeks or more to make make reservations a breeze!

[nanoose Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nanoose]

We own a week at Marriott Desert Springs Villas (MDSV-II) and usually bank our week. I have gotten some really good trades with it. I have not tried to book a week in the spring at our resort. It is extremely frustrating not to be able to get to your resort when you want.

That is how I feel about owning at Laguna Surf. I call right at the exact time and day and have to hope for the best. It's a nerve wracking experience and then quite a let down when you don't get a week . . . and then you have to repeat the same process week after week, until you finally "get" lucky!