Please help me understand some things. I have read the stickies I promise :)

Hello everyone. I am here because I am trying to help my inlaws understand what they have and consider possibly selling their timeshare. Admittedly they are older but not so wise and I feel like got taken a bit seven years ago when they purchased this timeshare because they have never fully understood what they got themselves into and have maybe used it a couple times in those earlier years. I have been designated to help. I realize before I can help them I need to understand what it is they have. I am new to timeshares so here I am asking for help from you seasoned folks.

I have spent the last 1-2 hours reading and searching and trying to figure this thing out. What I have so far:
They purchased this timeshare seven years ago at the Broadway Plantation resort in Myrtle Beach. They paid $16k upfront and have been paying yearly maintenance fees that are close to 1k this year.
I created an online account for them to get the info directly from the site.
VILLA TYPE
PALMETTO, 2 BEDROOM VILLA
USE RIGHTS
ANNUAL FLOAT
VSN MEMBER
YES
HOME SEASON
GOLD
VSN SEASON
GOLD
VACATION OWNERSHIP INTEREST
STAROPTIONS
44,000
STARPOINTS
13,500
EXTERNAL EXCHANGE COMPANY
COMPANY
INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL

So if I have been reading/understanding correctly this means that they are entitled to a week at that "home" resort each year correct? Would that only apply to the weeks that are listed on the chart under the 44k point value? Or do points only come into consideration when you are looking to stay elsewhere? I am sorry for the newbish questions but the more that I read the more that I am confusing myself and I'm hoping to just get a very basic explanation of how this works.

In a real world ballpark guess what do you think they might look at recouping in a sale and any ideas on where to start to look? I know MIL spent close to 2k trying to have someone sell it (no luck obviously) and when I found out I told her no more upfront payments so that is sort of how this fell in my lap.

It also looks like (again if I am reading this correctly) that if they do in fact sell this that unless the new owners buy another week they will not be in the svn anymore, does this mean they will only be able to stay at the home resort? Any other implications? I know the unused starpoints would not transfer. I am not even sure what they can be used for, would we be better off trying to use them up before any sale?

I truly appreciate any information you can help me with.


Stacy

First - your folks are probably more the norm than the outlier. Good for you for finding TUG - unfortunately many do not.

Sorry, as you will find out, a 2Bd SBP Gold has little to no value - and perhaps a negative value (cover closing costs...).

see this post in the bargain forum by a well-known Tugger giving one away -

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246751

No more with the upfront fees - they will only take your money.

The best thing may be to use it in order to get to most value. I see that they pay the VSN (SVN) fee that allows to be exchanged within VSN - those 44K SOs can be used to exchange into other VSN resorts, but 44K (or 13.5K SPs) doesn't get much. The 44K SOs do not transfer upon resale - only if transferred to family member.

The 13.5K SPs if converted from SOs (which has a fee) also do not have value - $1000+ in MFs are not worth 2 nites in a moderate Starwood hotel.

Ok I just read through question 19 again
This sale would qualify as a voluntary resale correct? It's starting to make a bit more sense I think. The $140 vsn membership fee wouldn't come into play anymore and if the new owners wanted to exchange the points to stay at another property they would have to use a third party exchange company correct?


19) Can you summarize the difference between owning a 1) DEVELOPER unit and owning a 2) MANDATORY resale and a 3) VOLUNTARY resale unit?
If you buy from the developer:
•You will pay top dollar - and lose 50-95% when you walk out the door
•You can convert your week to StarPOINTS (hotel points) - a poor value most of the time - sometimes valuable for Europe or special airline deals.
•You can trade for other timeshares in the Starwood system
•You can make a reservation at your home resort
•You can trade for Starwood resorts, and other resorts with an exchange Co. (Interval Acct. is included in your SVN membership)
•You will pay a yearly SVN membership fee of approximately $130

If you buy a mandatory resort - resale:
•You will pay less - but still a significant price (thousands of dollars for a high season week - much less in Florida)
•You can't convert your week to hotel points.
•You can trade for other timeshares in the Starwood system using Staroptions.
•You can make a reservation at your home resort
•You can trade for Starwood resorts, and other resorts with an exchange Co.
•You will pay a yearly SVN membership fee of approximately $130

If you buy a voluntary resort - resale:
•You can often get a week totally free
•You can't convert your week to hotel points
•You can't trade for other timeshares in the Starwood system
•You can make a reservation at your home resort
•You can trade for Starwood resorts, and other resorts with an exchange Co.
•You will not pay a yearly SVN membership fee

SBP is a Voluntary resort - and those 44K SOs do not transfer upon resale (the 13.5K SPs also do not transfer - not that it matters). Therefore the VSN (SVN) fee does not come into play.

The Title can be transferred to family member and retain the 44K SOs.
The problem is that it is questionable if 44K SOs is worth the $1000 - maybe if used to stay at SBP...

DavidnRobin said:

SBP is a Voluntary resort - and those 44K SOs do not transfer upon resale (the 13.5K SPs also do not transfer - not that it matters). Therefore the VSN (SVN) fee does not come into play.

The Title can be transferred to family member and retain the 44K SOs.
The problem is that it is questionable if 44K SOs is worth the $1000 - maybe if used to stay at SBP...

Click to expand...

Probably not worth banking either, as that would be 2x $1000 + $99 = $2199 for 88K SO's, but that could get a week in 1BR in Hawaii, or longer (10days?) in a studio...

Thank you guys I appreciate the information.

So basically it looks like it's probably best just to keep it. I know they are going to be heartbroken to hear it has no resale value.

Is it possible to voluntarily remove yourself from the vsn? (Just trying to see if it would be worth it to reduce the annual costs)

Obviously then we would be restricted to only staying at Myrtle Beach unless using an external exchange which wouldn't give us much.

So I wanted to come back to my very basic original question if you don't mind.

Their ownership entitles them to the 2 bedroom villa at Palmetto for a week a year with no additional costs correct? Is that only certain weeks? Do you need to check in on a certain day? What is the difference between lockout and regular villa? When I did a quick search it only showed availability for the lockouts and those were listed at 80+k points. Do they book up so fast that you need to book it on the first day you are able to?

At this point they haven't been using it in years and if they are just losing the points at the end of every year I want to try and get them to go stay there for their week at the very least since they're paying for it.

stacyk124 said:

Thank you guys I appreciate the information.

So basically it looks like it's probably best just to keep it. I know they are going to be heartbroken to hear it has no resale value.

Is it possible to voluntarily remove yourself from the vsn? (Just trying to see if it would be worth it to reduce the annual costs)

Click to expand...

I don't think so.

Obviously then we would be restricted to only staying at Myrtle Beach unless using an external exchange which wouldn't give us much.

So I wanted to come back to my very basic original question if you don't mind.

Their ownership entitles them to the 2 bedroom villa at Palmetto for a week a year with no additional costs correct?

Click to expand...

YES

Is that only certain weeks? Do you need to check in on a certain day?

Click to expand...

At 12-8 mos. before check-in, they can make a home resort reservation starting on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, during the season they own - Gold Season.

At 8-0 mos. before check-in, they can use their Staroptions to reserve anything in the SVN system/any check-in day/any number of days, that: 1) is available 2) they have enough Staroptions for.

They can save up Staroptions for 2 years, in order to have more to work with.

They can prepay their maintenance fee and borrow Staroptions from the next year to have more to work with.

What is the difference between lockout and regular villa?

Click to expand...

A lock-out is two attached villas, connected by a door that can "lock-off" the two units into separate villas. A standard 2-bdm. is just a 2 bdm. condo.

When I did a quick search it only showed availability for the lockouts and those were listed at 80+k points. Do they book up so fast that you need to book it on the first day you are able to?

Click to expand...

During high-season - yes.

It may be possible to remove ability to use VSN by not paying the VSN fee ($130/yr) since it is VSN Voluntary - isn't that what VSN Voluntary means? I do not think VSN fee needs to be paid - I recall a thread around this a while ago. Once removed, it may not be reinstated (at least not w/o a fee). I am not sure of this - you may want to check if it matters. Of course, how to speak to at VSE/VSN that would know? Ask for a Supervisor level person if you follow through.

There is another solution if your in-laws are elderly and do not care about a hit to their credit and have to villa foreclosed upon. This should only be done in limited circumstances with careful consideration. I can feel people cringing...

tbh - if it were me - I would offer to pay Title transfer costs (~$250) and give it away. And if that didn't work - offer to pay 1st years MFs. Better to lose a little than a lot. But, make sure you choose the Title/Closing Co. as not to get scammed. There is one here on TUG that comes recommended.

If payments are up-to-date - make a HomeResort (SBP) reservation for 2017.

One question I have in reading all of this over is "where are you (or they) located?" You indicate that they it was only used a couple of times, presumably because it is not convenient, or is it more of a health thing (just not travelling anymore)?

Take a look at where other VSE resorts are located; are there other resorts more convenient that might be used? If yes, then hang on to it and start trading. You don't have a lot of SO's but enough for a nice vacation every other year - but it needs to be somewhere that is worth the maintenance fees.

If the VSE resorts are not attractive, but they still want to travel, you could consider trading through an exchange company (SBP is both RCI and II affiliated). BUT it is not a lot of exchange value for the MF's you are paying. I suspect it would still be cheaper to cut them free from this and just rent timeshares directly from other owners here on tug.

If you or they are not going to make use of it at all, then cut your losses and get rid of it. It is really just a money pit if not used. Also, if selling, is it paid off? You mention it was purchased 7 years ago, and many financing agreements run longer than that. If there is still a balance owing it will need to be paid off before selling!