Price increases on the way

MARRIOTT VACATION CLUB UPDATE



Please be aware that I have received advance notice of price increases for the following resorts:



ARUBA SURF CLUB – ARUBA JANUARY 24, 2008



CANYON VILLAS – PHOENIX , AZ JANUARY 24, 2008



CRYSTAL SHORES – MARCO ISLAND , FL JANUARY 24, 2008



GRAND CHATEAU – LAS VEGAS , NV JANUARY 24, 2008



HORIZONS BY MARIOTT – ORLANDO, FL JANUARY 24, 2008



KO OLINA BEACH CLUB – OAHU , HI JANUARY 24, 2008



MAUI OCEAN CLUB – MAUI , HI JANUARY 24, 2008



MAUI OCEAN CLUB SEQUEL – MAUI , HI JANUARY 24, 2008



OCEANA PALMS – PALM BEACH , FL JANUARY 24, 2008



SHADOW RIDGE – PALM DESERT , CA JANUARY 24, 2008



WAIOHAI BEACH CLUB – KAUAI , HI JANUARY 24, 2008



* MORE RESORTS MAY BE ANNOUNCED
* INCREASES USUALLY RANGE BETWEEN $200-$1,500 OR MORE PER WEEK
* CALL NOW TO LOCK IN CURRENT PRICING!



If you have been considering an addition to your MVCI vacation portfolio, now is the time! Why wait and pay more?



Best regards,



XXXXXXXXXXXX

Portfolio Sales Executive

Marriott Vacation Club

Yeah, good luck with that......credit crunch and talk of a slowing US economy....I am sure folks will be lining up in droves to pay top dollar for a timeshare.

I personally have been surprised to see the number of deals I have been seeing on E-Bay at such a low price.....MGC for under $4K.....if anything it sounds like a good buying time for Marriott through ROFR.

I also received notice that my electricity, taxes, health insurances, and fuel costs were going up.

MVCI needs to give more incentives or their sales will drop the next two years, IMO. Maybe more purchase pts, maybe keep prices the same?

Steamboat Bill said:

I also received notice that my electricity, taxes, health insurances, and fuel costs were going up.

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Toss in homeowers insurance and you know how I feel. I got the bill (again) for my extimated escrow account and they only missed it by $600. So I either pay $600 and get a $45 increase in my house payment or I ignore it and my house payment goes up $95. Heck, this is even a FIXED rate mortgage and the payment, thanks to municiple taxes and ever increasing homeowners insurance (despite having never filed a claim), keeps pushing it ever skyward.

My own mortgage is worse than the MF's on my timeshares. For the last several years I've had this special assessment on my home known as an underestimated escrow account due to increases in taxes and insurance.

I think it is common for Marriott to have a "planned" increase every 28 days, but these increases don't always materialize. It depends on sales of each individual resort.

Well, doomsayers aside, Marriott has record sales for every quarter vs. the previous quarter for some time now. We'll see soon what the 4Q 07 had as results. I imagine that sales are robust and Marriott is seeking even more profit using the "price elasticity of demand" taught in Economics 101 in collage.

Maybe the little guy (includes me unfortunately) is doing less well. But those with some bucks seem better than ever.

Not a lot of subprime mortgages amongst Marriott owners IMHO...

johnmfaeth said:

Well, doomsayers aside, Marriott has record sales for every quarter vs. the previous quarter for some time now. We'll see soon what the 4Q 07 had as results. I imagine that sales are robust and Marriott is seeking even more profit using the "price elasticity of demand" taught in Economics 101 in collage.

Maybe the little guy (includes me unfortunately) is doing less well. But those with some bucks seem better than ever.

Not a lot of subprime mortgages amongst Marriott owners IMHO...

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I am not so sure that Timeshare and MVCI are insulated from the larger housing crunch. I know more than a few people who bought timeshares through a home equity loan....those days are largely over.........as for higher MVCI sales, I would argue that MVCI has more active sales locations today than in the past......if sales were going that great guns places like Frenchmans Cove wouldn't be offering EOY weeks now......also hearing from my sales guy that Marco Island and new Oceana Palms are now likely to have an EOY option.

Look Out Below! Prices Falling!

johnmfaeth said:

Well, doomsayers aside, Marriott has record sales for every quarter vs. the previous quarter for some time now. ...

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In case someone missed it, the stock market has gone down 15% since Oct 31/07. The average stock is down 20 percent during that same time period. Housing prices in California are predicted to fall 15% or more this year. The banking system is in a shambles. And someone thinks TSs are going up in value? I don't think so. If we enter a full recession, prices will fall hard.

Don't be fooled by newspapers. There is still a lot of money out there. Lots of Baby boomers are doing real well. Don't know if they will purchase timeshares, but there's disposable income out there.

Marriott 4Q Earnings News

Marriott News



Marriott International to Release Fourth Quarter 2007 Earnings February 14, 2008

CONTACT:
Tom Marder
(301) 380-2553
thomas.marder@marriott.com


Bethesda, MD - 3 January 2008 -
Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) will conduct its 2007 fourth quarter earnings review for the investment community and news media on Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The results will be issued prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on that day.

Marriott’s 2007 fourth quarter covers the 16-week time period from September 8, 2007 through December 28, 2007. Mr. Arne Sorenson, Marriott International's executive vice president, chief financial officer, and president – continental European lodging, will discuss the company's 2007 fourth quarter and full year results as well as its business outlook for 2008.

The conference call will be webcast simultaneously via Marriott’s investor relations website. Investors and news media wishing to access the call on the web should log on to http://www.marriott.com/investor, click the “Recent Investor News” tab and click on the quarterly conference call link. A replay will be available at that same website until February 14, 2009. The webcast will also be available as a podcast from the same site.

The telephone dial-in number for the conference call is 719-325-4770. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available from 1 p.m. ET, Thursday, February 14, 2008 until 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, February 21, 2008. To access the replay, call 719-457-0820. The reservation number for the recording is 7280416. To help ensure you do not miss any of the conference call, please dial-in or link to the call on the web 5 to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 2,900 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2006 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best places to work for by FORTUNE®. The company is also a 2006 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner. In fiscal year 2006, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $12.2 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.

And with the fed rates cut a full percentage point in the last 4 months, and the average upper middle class & better homeowner with plenty of equity, Home Equity Lines of Credit continue to be a relatively cheap way of financing for a tremendous number of people.

Yes, but the hoops to jump through to get those mortgages and HELOC's are becoming more and more of a hassle. I just refinanced my house and I have never had to supply so much documenatation before!

Foreign buyers...

Yes, With the dollar being so cheap

Still buying at MOC

The new Lahaina Villas are over 95% sold and they have no more Ocean View units left, so someone's still buying...

Frenchman's Cove

Interesting note about MFC. I went to the Sales presentation and prices have gone up but only $400 from last FEB for a plat week. This year though NO POINTS!! Actually they offered me 25K because I was an MFC owner and 40k for self referal but everything else was tied to financing thru them. If any one wants the current prices I'll post them.

GaryDouglas said:

The new Lahaina Villas are over 95% sold and they have no more Ocean View units left, so someone's still buying...

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It will be interesting to see how those resales perform in the next couple years.

On another note, Marco Island just started selling EOY units.
This is something Marriott usually does to help "push" sales along.

IMO

Our salesman told us prices were going up January 2008--we have toyed with buying another week so I think he thought that would put us over--still thinking but I sell real estate and the market is way slower so unlike two years ago I am a little more cautious.
Also wonder about prices and if you have heard anything about EOY at Frenchman's cove.

camachinist said:

Foreign buyers...

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I agree...

jimf41 said:

Interesting note about MFC. I went to the Sales presentation and prices have gone up but only $400 from last FEB for a plat week. This year though NO POINTS!! Actually they offered me 25K because I was an MFC owner and 40k for self referal but everything else was tied to financing thru them. If any one wants the current prices I'll post them.

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MFC is not doing so HOT. I would personally not purchase there. Resale is difficult.

mariawolf said:

Also wonder about prices and if you have heard anything about EOY at Frenchman's cove.

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They started selling them in Nov I believe. 60% of the EY price unless you buy 2 of them.

timeshare prices

Some people like me see timeshare prices as being related to the price of hotel rooms. In the past few years hotel room prices have skyrocketed in the US and around the world. While the prices have some relationship to construction costs, I believe the major driver of prices is the economy. Therefore, the scarcity (or lack of it) of hotel rooms also drives the price of their substutes-- timeshares. A timeshares is usually cheaper than a hotel for longer stays. It's a better bargain for vacationers even at developer prices.

Even though the Marriott resale market price is generally 60% of the developer price, the resale market prices have also risen over the same time period. The reason that the Marriott TS prices are high on Marco Island is because the Marco Marriott is one of the most profitable hotels in the Marriott system. They are always at or near capacity. The room rates start at $469. per night (limited view) and top out at over $900 per night. (Gulf view) Why is the cost of owning a week at the new TS Crystal Shores on Marco such a suprise? If you want to dance you have to pay the fiddler.

jimf41
Prices/info in general as well as any EOY if you got any info would be helpful!

mariawolf said:

jimf41
Prices/info in general as well as any EOY if you got any info would be helpful!

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The EOY Plat at FC was running about $16-17K if I recall (roughly the price of annual silver)....expect Gold and Silver season EOYs to be offered mid to late Feb...according to my sales rep.