Value of purchase from Marriott rather than private sale?

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

Hello, I have a question - I own in Vegas and am currently vacationing in Aruba for the second time at the Ocean Club. We were thinking of purchasing here and did the tour yesterday. I asked the Marriott guy why I should buy from Marriott when I could save thousands of dollars buying a resale from someone else. He said that if I didn't buy from Marriott, I would lose the following benefits (I may have forgotten some):

1 - If I don't travel one year, I can't exchange my week for points (I doubt I'd do that anyway)

2 - Marriott won't rent my week if I want to do that (again, unlikely I'd do that anyway)

3 - I get last preference on the week I want - so for example, if I want week 30, I get in line behind everyone who purchased directly from Marriott, and I get the week after all the Marriott owners have had their choice

The last one is the most important to me, I'd hate to miss out on my choice of weeks because I didn't buy directly from Marriott. Is what he said accurate, and if so, does it really make a difference?

He recommended that I buy a week here and then come here once a year and use my Vegas week to exchange for points. I was seriously considering selling my Vegas week and buying a week here from someone directly, but I don't want to hurt myself in the future. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Hi and welcome to TS4Ms, I will answer below in caps.

Hello, I have a question - I own in Vegas and am currently vacationing in Aruba for the second time at the Ocean Club. We were thinking of purchasing here and did the tour yesterday. I asked the Marriott guy why I should buy from Marriott when I could save thousands of dollars buying a resale from someone else. He said that if I didn't buy from Marriott, I would lose the following benefits (I may have forgotten some):

1 - If I don't travel one year, I can't exchange my week for points (I doubt I'd do that anyway)
THIS IS CURRENTLY THE ONLY BENEFIT U DO NOT GET AS A RESALE OWNER

2 - Marriott won't rent my week if I want to do that (again, unlikely I'd do that anyway)
THIS IS NOT TRUE, THEY WILL TAKE YOUR WEEK INTO THEIR RENTAL PROGRAM IF U WANT TO GIVE IT TO THEM AND THEY NEED THAT PARTICULAR WEEK THEY HAVE BEEN TAKING FEWER WEEKS THE LAST FEW YEARS.

3 - I get last preference on the week I want - so for example, if I want week 30, I get in line behind everyone who purchased directly from Marriott, and I get the week after all the Marriott owners have had their choice
DEFINITELY NOT TRUE! YOU CAN RESERVE YOUR HOME WEEK JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AT 1 YEAR OUT OR MULTIPLE WEEK OWNERS AT 13 MONTHS.
AND IN INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL, THERE IS NO PREFERENCE GIVEN BASED ON HOW U GOT YOUR WEEK - RESALE OR FULL RETAIL - JUST ON THE TRADING POWER/DEMAND OF THAT PARTICULAR WEEK U DEPOSIT FOR EXCHANGE..
The last one is the most important to me, I'd hate to miss out on my choice of weeks because I didn't buy directly from Marriott. Is what he said accurate, and if so, does it really make a difference?

He recommended that I buy a week here and then come here once a year and use my Vegas week to exchange for points. I was seriously considering selling my Vegas week and buying a week here from someone directly, but I don't want to hurt myself in the future. Any suggestions? Thanks!

None us of know what the future will bring but convention wisdom has it that all 'old' resale owners will be grandfathered into any new program (think points) that Marriott will offer.
Your salesmen is just that, a salesmen trying to get you to buy a week from him.

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

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response! It seems like my best bet is to buy a resale, I saw some great deals online. Can you recommend a good place to look for resales? The salesman did say that I wouldn't be able to find a Marriott location for less than 65% or so of the original price because Marriott has the right of first refusal to buy back at that price, so I don't know if that's accurate or not either.

[littlestar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close littlestar]

We bought our Marriott from Holidaygroup.com - Andrea was my agent and great to work with. If you find something you like with them, don't be afraid to shoot them a low offer.

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

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response! It seems like my best bet is to buy a resale, I saw some great deals online. Can you recommend a good place to look for resales? The salesman did say that I wouldn't be able to find a Marriott location for less than 65% or so of the original price because Marriott has the right of first refusal to buy back at that price, so I don't know if that's accurate or not either.

Marriott has not been exercising their ROFR for a while now, due to the current economic situation. It's a great time to to buy, and get a very good deal.

You can normally get some great deals on Ebay. Take a look, and see if anything interest you.

http://www.timeshareforums.com/index...sorts-for-sale

Good luck!

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

Thanks for the tips, I just found a good deal actually for about half what Marriott is asking. Interestingly though, I was thinking about the maintenance fees - It's about $500 more per year in Aruba than Vegas, and I've been able to easily trade my Vegas week through II, paying only about $140 or so for the trade, it seems it would be less expensive for me to keep Vegas and just keep trading for Aruba, unless I've just been lucky and the conventional wisdom is that in the future it won't be as easy to trade for the Ocean Club. Any thoughts?

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Thanks for the tips, I just found a good deal actually for about half what Marriott is asking. Interestingly though, I was thinking about the maintenance fees - It's about $500 more per year in Aruba than Vegas, and I've been able to easily trade my Vegas week through II, paying only about $140 or so for the trade, it seems it would be less expensive for me to keep Vegas and just keep trading for Aruba, unless I've just been lucky and the conventional wisdom is that in the future it won't be as easy to trade for the Ocean Club. Any thoughts?

I don't have an answer for you, but I do want to commend you for asking the right questions. It's not very often we get a new poster in your situation (contemplating developer purchase) asking such perceptive questions.

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

Thanks for the tips, I just found a good deal actually for about half what Marriott is asking. Interestingly though, I was thinking about the maintenance fees - It's about $500 more per year in Aruba than Vegas, and I've been able to easily trade my Vegas week through II, paying only about $140 or so for the trade, it seems it would be less expensive for me to keep Vegas and just keep trading for Aruba, unless I've just been lucky and the conventional wisdom is that in the future it won't be as easy to trade for the Ocean Club. Any thoughts?

What time of year have you been easily exchanging into?

Xmas through March/April is peak time in Aruba. Holiday weeks are sold as premium weeks, and are much more difficult to get, outside of flexchange.

If you have been successful getting the week you want exchanging, then perhaps there's no need to fix what isn't broken. Of course, the only sure bet is to actually own where/when you'd like to go.

BTW, the ocean Club has just been given an increase in MF's, as well as an assessment. The Surf club's MF's are less.

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

What time of year have you been easily exchanging into?

Xmas through March/April is peak time in Aruba. Holiday weeks are sold as premium weeks, and are much more difficult to get, outside of flexchange.

If you have been successful getting the week you want exchanging, then perhaps there's no need to fix what isn't broken. Of course, the only sure bet is to actually own where/when you'd like to go.

BTW, the ocean Club has just been given an increase in MF's, as well as an assessment. The Surf club's MF's are less.

Last year I traded for a week in August, and this year I got two weeks at the beginning of June (still here, actually!) I'm aware of the assessment and increase in fees as well, that's one of my concerns.

[m61376 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close m61376]

Another consideration for trading into Aruba versus owning where you'd like to go is what your needs will be in a few years down the road. will you have more flexibility or less wrt dates? Will you need a 2BR or will a 1BR or lock-out work for you?

For example, if you have young kids and will be needing school vacations and 2BR's it will be much harder to consistently trade than if you have flexibility wrt date and size.