Anyone bought resale Marriott?

[chrisann]

We have a great opportunity to buy at a great price for Horizons Marriott it's a reasle though and I'm just wondering if anyone else has boughten resale here and if they've had any problems. Is it pretty easy to trade your week for a week somewhere else, is ther an extra cost. Is there a limit of extra weeks of vacation you can get else where? If we were to book something for extra weeks for friends, what the extra cost be? Sorry so many questions! Thanks!

 

[spiceycat]

not a marriott expert.

I think the only thing you won't get buying resale not from Marriott - is their points (lets you stay at the Marriott Hotels).

pretty sure you belong to II so you get the 12 getaways each year.

 

[littlestar]

Yes, we've bought Horizons (twice now). We sold a silver week and we're in the process of buying a gold week. Just make sure your offer will pass Marriott's ROFR (right of first refusal). They have the option to buy the week if they think the offer is too low.

We own an Every Other Year lock off week. We lock the unit off and II (Interval International - the exchange company) usually gives us a bonus week for the 1 bedroom side. So that gives us a 1 bedroom, studio, and bonus week to use or trade. Marriott charges $75.00 to lock off the unit. When you become a member of II, you're eligible to buy their cash Getaway weeks (great deals for off season - we picked up a 1 bedroom October week at Horizons Orlando for $325.00 for the week)! We are gold members of II. The basic membership is about $84.00 a year. If you trade Marriott to Marriott, II charges an $89.00 exchange fee. If you trade non Marriott, it's $139.00 trade fee. The bonus weeks cost $199 for a studio, $249 for a one bedroom, or $299 for a 2 bedroom.

Yes, you can let friends use your Getaway weeks. They just need to buy a $39.00 Guest Certificate (if you won't be with them). They say the Getaways are limited to 12 a year. But we've never booked that many, so I don't know if that's true or not.

 

[Lisa P.]

You will find plenty of Marriott buyers, most of them resale purchasers, if you visit the forums at TUG. You don't need to be a TUG member to read the forums - free registration. Membership/joining is only required if you want to see the exchange Sightings forum or the Resort Ratings and Reviews sections. See my sig for more info. Enjoy your timeshare!

 

[chrisann]

how does it work to trade it, say we wanted to go to Hawaii one year, I know we can't get points from the company but how do trades work? Thanks for your help!!

 

[Lisa P.]

Trading with a timeshare is the same regardless of how you purchased it, from the developer or resale.

With Marriott, to exchange, most owners join the external exchange company, II (Interval International). There's an annual membership fee ~US$90/yr and sometimes they run specials, like 2 yrs for price of 1. Then you look online at II or call II and see what's available for exchange.

If you see something you like, you just select it and confirm it for the exchange fee, another US$139 domestic destination or $??? (under US$200) international destination. Hawaii would be domestic for a North American resident making the exchange.

If you don't see anything you want, you may place and ongoing search request for what you want. If someone deposits it and your week is similar in supply/demand (called "trade power), then II will confirm it at that time. You pay the exchange fee at the time of your ongoing search request. If it never confirms or you cancel the search, you may ask for a refund of the exchange fee.

Marriott resort deposits with II are held as available only to other Marriott owners for the first few weeks that that are deposited. Only if no Marriott owner with a strong enough deposit requests an exchange into that unit, will it remain in the system and available to the rest of II's members, after the holding period. This is called Marriott Owner Priority for exchanging back into Marriott's other resorts.

Both II and RCI offer some advantages when a timeshare owner is trying to trade into a sister resort from their own system. As Wyndham owners, our deposits with RCI get a substantial trade power boost when looking to trade into another Wyndham through RCI. And so on...

You will truly learn far more about timeshares by reading on TimeshareForums.com or TUG (see below for the link):

• how to find one that will suit your personal needs the best
• what it's worth on the resale market
• how to deal with Right-Of-First-Refusal issues (such as w/Marriott)
• how to make the most of any timeshare you decide to get
• how to make good, well-informed exchanges to nice places

Enjoy!