Happy to be a Legacy Owner
Everybody knows I'm too verbose, so please forgive me in advance. But I can't say things in three sentences like my sage compatriots, so here goes.....
I'll offer my two cents' worth, but in the end, listen to what all the TUG members have to say. There is much wisdom here. There are differences of opinion, but in the end, you will choose wisely by your gut feeling. Doesn't hurt to crunch the numbers along the way, either.
Years ago, most of us Tuggers joined "after the fact"......that is, after we all bought from the developer......THEN we read and learned what we "could and should have done". There always seemed to be a general consensus here on TUG from those who knew from experience. That same old advice is still around and is still relevant, and remains invaluable (regardless of the NEW SYSTEM being introduced), and can be summed up in a few short words:
"Stay Out of the Marriott Sales Office." Especially right now, with the current opportunities (not to mention uncertainties).
(Regarding the "new" folks who get lost and somehow end up in a Sales Office looking for cookies and juice.......Why would they, or anyone, come into the new system for the first time and pay for a full pocket of $45,000-worth of nickels and dimes, or marbles, or whatever??? Amazing to me.....)
I will respond to your question about "WHAT YOU SHOULD DO" by going somewhere else first. Perhaps it will, in itself, allude to the natural and proper conclusion.
(A quick preface:
My current situation is, do I spurn the system and remain a "lowly weeks owner", or do I enroll and play the game with my would-be 17,800 points? Seems like an easy decision. Wow, that's a lot of possibilities, no?
Did you know i could now stay ONE day a week in a different place, for the rest of my life?)
One resounding point that I want to stress up front with absolute certainty, and one that will be universally shared regardless of position on the new system, is that it has never been a better time to ENJOY a Marriott resort. After all, they are, as a whole, unsurpassed.
There are many more resorts than when my family first entered the arena 12+ years ago, and each of the multitude of resort properties is beautiful indeed. Virtually anywhere in the world you can find a luxurious 2-BR condo just waiting on you.
Yet, we find ourselves in troubled times. But there is a silver lining to the cloud, waiting to be exploited if one is so inclined. The UNBELIEVABLY horrid economy right now has presented something i thought I'd never see......a true buyer's market for Marriott timeshares (and timeshares in general).
(It's a given that Legacy Owners are concerned about resale values, and rightly so, knowing what they PAID to the developer. The worries are justified and understandable. But I'm NOT worried, because I take this stand: my choices have not been removed. Many have said as much, and it's spot on. My involvement initially was strictly for vacation time, and I've received that, and more.)
As a family, we have enjoyed every week we've used, whether by occupying a week at our home resorts or by trade weeks in fantastic spots of our choosing (a great way to vacation somewhere far away in a 2-BR luxury condo that you don't own---imagine that!).
So enter TODAY's unprecedented situation: You can purchase a resale week dirt cheap, and continue to occupy at that magnificent spot forever, or trade it for another great spot just to change scenery. You may miss something called the "NEW POINTS SYSTEM" which gives short or longer stays after being on a waiting list for months, and perhaps get it, or perhaps never get it, but in the end, is it really any different in essence from the traditional trade?
But that's not all-----there is another seldom-mentioned OPTION which has magically entered the picture because of the current economy: Marriott rental weeks from stressed owners are abundant, and anyone now has the ability to utilize them as never before. Rental listings are way up, and they are way cheaper.
Many posters in the old days said, "Why own when you can rent?", and they proceeded to back it up with numbers. But we timeshare owners wanted to feel special, so we got that deed. My point is that, if you want to, you can RENT for the next two years now if you are uncertain....enough time to "see where this is taking us all"....or you can PURCHASE a week (or three) via resale, and get something you never could before.......deeded vacation time at bargain basement prices. Personally I think it's a no-brainer to eschew the points system and choose one of those two options, at least in your situation. I think eventually people will see the value of owning strictly "occupy time", and the resale prices will begin to inch back up due to desirability. But that's just imho. As some have said, if you want a specific destination, buy it and buy it now. No one will take away your ability to stay there.
I only opened my mind to buying resale after I already had all the Marriott weeks I ever thought possible, especially when i remembered the FORMER prices of traditional weeks. Couldn't go there again! So, I decided to check out Ebay and couldn't help myself-----I purchased another week in a great destination for a steal-of-a-price, at Marriott Oceanwatch in Myrtle Beach.
Wasn't sure about it at first, but now, after all the hysteria leading up to June 20 (and we DID close prior to, altho it'll never matter), I am literally ecstatic about being an owner there, and with receiving all the accompanying privileges. I tried to talk myself INTO "buyer's remorse", but it didn't happen. And after reading all the hundreds of posts regarding the new system, i'm even more convinced. I would have NEVER considered owning there before-----the weeks were just much too high to consider doing that again. But "IT" happened, referring to the economy, --------the bottom fell out----- and Ebay came calling.
And the result? --------i'm going to spend the exact number of minutes there during that 7-day week as I will spend at each of my five previously-purchased developer weeks. And after I check in, with a happy-face they are going to allow me to stay in the SAME luxurious bedding which has been upgraded from the early years. And i will also swim in the same pristine pools amongst all those "special" owners who shelled out $40,000 for their week, or purchased MAGIC POINTS, and then called in on the phone for something "unheard-of", called "reservations", and then smirkingly threw the winning hand on the table as if, "OK, boys, Royal Flush, the game is over and the pot is mine..." And you somehow think I won't be smiling a big one at that guy? Sure will. And then i'll go out and get me a big steak that evening.
Bottom line, the real question boils down to-----should I have RENTED it all along, or would i have done better to purchase it resale, and pay the $1000 maintenance fee annually? Well, the idea of having that puffed-out chest as a "real owner" won out.
So YOUR original question can be answered, by me anyway, by saying that your dilemma should really be this: the maintenance fee or the rental price? I say it's never been a BETTER time to get a Marriott timeshare week in a place where you wish to spend some time. You lose NOTHING. I couldn't ever swap for "points" BEFORE (except for the other kind of "rewards points", and i never did that either due to loss of value----the "original skim", LOL), so why should it bother me now? I can still enjoy the heck out of my ownership weeks, and my kids DO NOT know the difference, nor do they care, and the same goes for my wife........we are there, and we own full privileges. And a deed.
My contention is that the Marriott rental weeks will be a bargain for a good while, and if you elect instead to buy a resale week on Ebay, or from whatever source you find, good gosh, GO FOR IT and realize what you're getting. If the resale value is zero thereafter, so what? Be content to get stuck with 7 days of vacation happiness each year, and continue that for many years. No one can take that away, can they?
You won't be selling it the following month, will you? Enjoy it for years and years, and your net, in a worse case scenario, will be a wash. I never intended that my weeks would have an inherent value, other than what enjoyment we would have by playing the game, so i'm OK with what we have experienced, and what my kids have seen as a result of our delving into JW's magical world. I have to nod and acknowledge with a hearty THANK YOU to JW, though, because it would have never happened otherwise, and I know that. It just wouldn't have.
When, in the last decade, could you buy a week in Hawaii for these prices, or a week at Newport Coast Villas, or a week at Ocean Pointe??? And if this economy had not happened, you might, just might, be currently contemplating a purchase of a week for $40,000, without the option of a "points swap" anyway. Your choices would have, then, been the same, (1)occupy or (2)trade. Ding, ding, ding......what are you waiting for? Resale prices to go back up? Marriott to say "We're revising the program again (or again), so come join the club for $ XX,XXX"? NOW is the bottom of the market (especially as we begin to "read the documents" and understand the new system) ......ALL i can say is that, for me, I'm glad I got at least ONE bargain with my lone resale. Never thought i would. good luck. Enjoy your Marriott experience......you won't regret it, and the memories will blow you away. It's not a wrong decision to choose Marriott.....just choose it in the right way.
. You'll probably beat me to the best one since I can't doing anything right now. What kind of money are you looking to spend? If I could get one between $10,000 and $15,000 I'd jump but unfortunately I can't until after Xmas... At least that's when the wife said I could "look into it"...