Marriott Frechman's Cove

$9,100 for gold on resale market...should I take it? Out the door with taxes, closing fees and 2009 maintenance is $10,800

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Sounds like a great price for the gold week. You might want to check your closing fees:

2006 property taxes $350 - attorney that did my closing last month had us pay the 2006 taxes
Transfer Tax $ 180 - 2% of sale price
2009 maintenance fee $1285
Title insurance $250.00 - probably don't need
marriott transfer Fee $25
Recording fees $30
Attorney for P&S agreement, title, tax clearance letter, marriott letter, etc. $550

Total $2670/$2420 without title insurance

Is this a 1 Bedroom or are they all 2?

Frenchman's Cove only has 2 and 3 BR units. I would ensure this is an EVERY year timeshare and not EOY. With Gold months stretching from May-August and then Nov-most of Dec. I think it sounds like a great deal!

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/common/respages/pdf/resorts/uv/frenchmanscove.pdf

Hey Guys

This is indeed an every year purchase - 2 bed. 2009 usage...so out the door with all closing costs and annual maintenance is $10,800

I was told by reseller that ROFR will not be an issue...

Hopefully all works out well...we've put in our downpayment and are starting the paperwork...

And I assume you won't forget about the Orlando property you just purchased????

GOOD LUCK!!!!

kenny1975 said:

Hey Guys

This is indeed an every year purchase - 2 bed. 2009 usage...so out the door with all closing costs and annual maintenance is $10,800

I was told by reseller that ROFR will not be an issue...

Hopefully all works out well...we've put in our downpayment and are starting the paperwork...

Click to expand...

Hey Tom

We have rescinded Orlando! Thanks for all of your help...we will definitely have to take about trading as we'd love to go to Grande Ocean...

One consideration is past taxes. MFC or rather the USVI government has not collected them yet on any property at MFC since it's inception. For a Gold week I'm guessing that would be about $300 per year. They should have the tax situation finalized this year and you, not the previous owner, will be responsible for the tax from the year the unit was first paid for. That could go back as far as 2006 if the owner was an original buyer in 2005.

One interesting thing is that the tax will supposedly be based on the purchase price. I would be curious when you get your bill to see if they readjust the tax downward from the original price to what you will pay. A 2BDRM Gold sold for $26,400 in February 2007 when the resort opened and a thousand or so less then that when they first sold them in 2005.

kenny1975 said:

$9,100 for gold on resale market...should I take it? Out the door with taxes, closing fees and 2009 maintenance is $10,800

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Click to expand...

I thought property taxes weren't being paid, due to some kind of lawsuit against the U.S.V.I Government.(see link)
http://www.coralbaycommunitycouncil.org/property-tax-info.htm

SpikeMauler said:

I thought property taxes weren't being paid, due to some kind of lawsuit against the U.S.V.I Government.(see link)
http://www.coralbaycommunitycouncil.org/property-tax-info.htm

Click to expand...

The best info I have is that the lawsuit is expected to be settled sometime this year, most likely by the end of summer. They originally sent out bills last winter for about 1.1% of purchase value after the original lawsuit was settled. They, USVI, were immediately hit with another lawsuit and that is the one that should be settled this year. I'm hopeful that some of the rumors will come to fruition namely the bill will be about 30% less than the first calculation and that Marriott will pick up the 2006's tax bill as the resort wasn't open in 2006. There is also a provision rumored to be that the minimum bill for any property owner would be $500. I hope that gets defeated or turns out to be just a rumor.

When you are down there you adjust to "Island time". I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this all turns out.

jimf41 said:

There is also a provision rumored to be that the minimum bill for any property owner would be $500. I hope that gets defeated or turns out to be just a rumor.

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Jim
I'm not sure what you mean. Would that be (a minimum)$500 total, for 2006,07,08,09 property taxes? I thought the proposed yearly taxes were somewhere between $300 and $400.

kenny1975 said:

I was told by reseller that ROFR will not be an issue...

Click to expand...

That's true. Marriott does not utilize ROFR with Frenchman's Cove

Kenny-
Good to see that you listened to the advice on the other post and I am glad that you are buying something you will actually use some years.

If the previous owner has not yet made a reservation for 2009, try to get one asap.

Make sure in your eagerness you follow the advice at the top of the Buying/Selling/Renting forum and due your due diligence, checking everything out. Good luck!

SpikeMauler said:

That's true. Marriott does not utilize ROFR with Frenchman's Cove

Click to expand...

Is this an indication that they don't think it's worth supporting a price because of strong resale value, or they don't wish to have any of them back?

If they USVI assessor gets their way they will not be adjusting anything down! They are not taking into count the resale $ numbers in recent years from talking to other timeshare owners at my resort on STT.

jimf41 said:

....I would be curious when you get your bill to see if they readjust the tax downward from the original price to what you will pay. A 2BDRM Gold sold for $26,400 in February 2007 when the resort opened and a thousand or so less then that when they first sold them in 2005.

Click to expand...

Numismatist said:

Is this an indication that they don't think it's worth supporting a price because of strong resale value, or they don't wish to have any of them back?

Click to expand...

I think I remember somebody saying that the U.S.V.I doesn't allow ROFR to be exercised there.

Marriott's Right of First Refusal ("ROFR")
ROFR Policy
Most Marriott timeshares include a clause in the legal documents affecting the timeshare giving Marriott the right to purchase a Marriott timeshare that an owner proposes to sell to a third party. If Marriott exercises its right, it must do so under the same terms as those the owner and potential buyer have agreed upon.

The owner must notify Marriott in writing of the agreed upon terms and give Marriott the option to buy the week at those same terms instead of allowing the proposed purchaser to buy it. Technically, the owner is asking Marriott to waive its Right of First Refusal ("ROFR").

Marriott has a limited time to respond to the notification. Typically, Marriott must respond within 15 days (e.g., for Grand Chateau) to 30 days (e.g., for Grande Ocean and Custom House). Marriott normally responds within 10 or fewer days, often within three or four days.

Although Marriott usually responds quickly to a request for a waiver, the various ROFR legal provisions typically state that if Marriott fails to exercise its ROFR option within the required number of days, the owner is free to sell at the price indicated in the notification.

ROFR Waiver Fee - Effective January 1, 2007
If Marriott grants the waiver, thus allowing the owner to sell as proposed, the purchaser will be charged a fee of $95. The fee should be collected and paid to Marriott through the closing process. It's likely that Marriott will insist on collecting the fee before the new owner is recognized by Marriott.

Exceptions
Based on a post by Perry on the old BBS in early 2005 and adjusted for info posted by others, the following resorts do not have ROFR provisions:

* Marriott's Frenchman's Cove • MFC
* Marriott's Desert Springs Villas • MDS * (See note.)
* Marriott's Harbour Point • HPS
* Marriott's Heritage Club at Harbour Town • MHG
* Marriott's Monarch at Sea Pines • MMS
* Marriott's Royal Palms • MRP
* Marriott's Streamside (Birch, Cedar, Douglas) • MVB, MCD, MDO
* Marriott's Summit Watch • MSW ** (See note.)
* Marriott's Sunset Pointe • MSN

* However, Desert Springs Villas II does have an ROFR policy.
** Summit Watch resales apparently became subject to ROFR starting in February 2007.

There have also been reports that Fairway Villas at Seaview does not have an ROFR policy.

BTW - I copied all the above ROFR info from TUG's Marriott FAQ's thread.

Marriott would love to have ROFR in STT. USVI real estate law won't allow it. As far as the minimum tax rumor, yes it would mean $500 per year minimum every year. As I said it is a rumor. A persistent one but still a rumor. Give it about as much credence as the six month reservation window for resale owners.