Newbie hoping to graduate to use the Starwood forum.

Hello from a newbie hoping to graduate to use the Starwood forum. Welcome weigh in on a recent purchase.

Bought from Developer (I know. I can hear the groans. I applied TUG guidance i.e.-if you buy from the developer make sure the resort is new, a destination we will use, and the Dev. is giving away good benefits)

Location: Westin Lagunamar Cancun (Note: voluntary property)

Details: 1 Bedroom Premium Gold Plus (every year)

Price: $19,900 (44,000 Staroptions / 26,000 Starpoints EOY)

Developer up front benefits totaled 176,000 Startpoints (100,000 for property + 74,000 for Explorer return (Note: was already in for $2K)
-SPG Gold card status
-Paid II for life
Additional Benefit: For $3100 - right to buy 160,000 more Starpoints over next 6 months.

I hope to add a resale Starwood mandatory property later and maximize my total points.

We were going to take a cruise over the Holidays and I'm now looking at properties that have availability for which I can apply my bonus Starpoints - Ex: Westin Aruba)

I am within the 10 day rescind - so I welcome feedback (also, if there are any fine print details I should watch for).

Thanks!

Welcome to TUG!

Since Starwood has some completely unique features, the best place to ask your questions is the Starwood forum, and we don't eat newbies there So I'm moving your post there.

Also - be sure you check the info. at the top of the Starwood board - we have a ton of resources!

Again - Welcome!

IMO, rescind.

If you didnt pay cash and financed in any way then absolutely see above.

I dont see 44K Star Options worth anywhere near that much. I think you could save at least 10K and buy a resale worth twice as many Staroptions for what you paid. I'm sure someone with more info will comment.

Blaine -- Welcome! Yes, we often recommending buying resale. But if you LOVE Cancun and LOVE going the time of year you have purchased as often as you can and you're SURE you want the size unit you bought, then it might be the right purchase for you.

There are some resale Lagunamar properties on the market right now, so you probably could get the same thing (minus the II, bonus StarPoints, Gold Status, and StarOption usage). So if you REALLY REALLY want Cancun and not go elsewhere as much, resale might be the right purchase for you.

The resort is new and very nice. We really enjoyed our trip there. We even considered "living" there for the winter when the kids are in college.

So think for another day or so, and rescind if you're not 100% sure. You can always go back and buy it again.

(And your bonus StarPoints won't show up for 45 days, so don't spend them before you get them!)

I have to agree - you should rescind. We have seen Lagunamar resales for half the price of the developer.

Since all Starwood owners and a ton of other folks have Gold status, it has little or no value.

You really aren't getting II free for life - you will pay for it every year in your SVN fee.

If you financed it, that's even more reason to rescind. In this economy you don't want to finance a depreciating luxury asset that is worth half what you paid for it. If you buy resale, you may be able to pay cash. If you can't then I wouldn't buy it at all.

Right now, you can pick up a Starwood resale at a voluntary resort for literally nothing. Lagunamar is an easy II exchange. I'd definitely investigate ALL my options!

Please read this TUG article about rescinding - http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74493

If your goal is to go to Lagunamar during gold plus season using 44000 StarOptions each year, you can do it for far less money -- and own at a mandatory resort that is far more likely to hold its value.

Buy a Kierland platinum small side one bedroom. It will cost you $4,500 - $5,500 based on some recent eBay auctions. Maintenance fees are about $475 + the same $109 SVN fee that you would pay on a Lagunamar developer purchase. Kierland comes with 67100 StarOptions. More StarOptions; less cost upfront and less cost on an ongoing basis.

The only downside is that you cannot make your reservations until eight months in advance; owners can reserve twelve months out at their home resort. But because your strategy is to go gold plus season, you shouldn't have trouble getting the weeks you want.

Rescind!!!

The ONLY time I'd recommend buying a voluntary unit from the developer is that you absolutely love that resort AND you want the ability to trade within SVN. But you bought the wrong season if you want to ever trade. 44k SOs won't get you very far in SVN at all. For instance, you'll never be able to get into Hawaii because the smallest unit is a studio worth 67.1k SOs. At minimum, you should have bought a 1 bdrm platinum, which would have cost a few thousand dollars more to purchase, but would have given you almost double the SOs (81k) with which to trade. 81k SOs are workable as they'll get you a 1 bdrm at any resort in the SVN network any time of the year that you want to go....for the same MFs each year!

Oh, and for $20k, you can purchase 571,400 SPs directly from the Starwood website.

I own 3 weeks at Langunamar and have been to Lagunamar. It's very nice.

However, by buying from the developer without having a secondary market non-Starwood purchase to retro (make it like you bought it from Starwood directly), you are missing an opportunity to save a substantial amount of money. Please consider the advice to rescind. There are plenty of units yet to be sold at Lagunamar.

After you rescind, then buy a resale Starwood property in the Season and at the location you most desire. Most would advise buying a 2-bedroom at a good location with fairly low annual fees. Close on that property.

Then and only then, take that sale and buy an even year or odd year 2-br in Platinum at Lagunamar for about $22K and retro the other non-Starwood purchase as part of the acquisition from Starwood. (You must currently spend the $20K to do the retro.)

If you don't understand what the people here are talking about with a retro, please believe us or see the "stickys" at the top of the TUG Starwood BB page . We know and are just trying to save you money.

And, it has nothing to do with whether Lagunamar is a nice place. It certainly is. However, you should get top value and flexibility when you purchase from Starwood and only by retroing a secondary market purchase can you do that. Good luck! ... eom

lost internection connection at WSJ while bothering to tell the new Tugger to Rescind!

Rescind-Research-Resale

I applied TUG guidance i.e.-if you buy from the developer make sure the resort is new, a destination we will use, and the Dev. is giving away good benefits

Click to expand...

I do not know of anyone here that suggests buying from Starwood for good benefits.

Thank you TUG'rs

Great advice. This is why I posted. I will rescind and look for a Kierland (or another mandatory Starwood property). THANK YOU!

blaine.schultz@gmail.com said:

Great advice. This is why I posted. I will rescind and look for a Kierland (or another mandatory Starwood property). THANK YOU!

Click to expand...

Whew! Yes, rescind! If you really want to buy direct, follow Jarta's advice below re retro a cheap week at the same time.

And FYI, once you get II membership you'll see the Getaway weeks they offer. Currently, since you purchased during Gold, there are lots of weeks for the Fall (not always the best time to go to Cancun...) for <$500/week rental without owning there or exchanging.

Starpoints and FDI?

So you guys don't see any value in accumulating the Starpoints the Developer is adding to the pot as a first day incentive (FDI)?
I get 176,000 Starpoints
+ 6 options with up to 2 years to buy them at $1550 per 80,000 Starpoints
So, for $9300 I get 480,000 Starpoints (PS - I checked on the comment to buy Starpoints online at SPG - they are $35 per point and you can only buy 20,000 per year)
Potentially, I'd have 656,000 Starpoints at my disposal.

I am a big Hotel user too and can see good value in using Starpoints.

Thoughts?

hey - slow down... i am attempting to go slow right now as we are at WSJ (and started with Painkillers for lunch)...

i don't have a calculator - but no matter - if you want best value - you will want to get to 5* Elite / Plat for Life (5*/PFL) - in doing this you should buy resale and the requalify it with a SVO purchase - and buy as much resale as possible.

of course there is value in SO-SP conversion, but it comes at a premium - and the fuzzy (TS sales) math is interesting and confusing...

and rescind, research (your options - everything...) , and resale (if SVO works for you) - and once you have the advance SVO TSing understood (mostly) - then Requal... (buy resale 1st no matter...)

gl

blaine.schultz@gmail.com said:

So you guys don't see any value in accumulating the Starpoints the Developer is adding to the pot as a first day incentive (FDI)?
I get 176,000 Starpoints
+ 6 options with up to 2 years to buy them at $1550 per 80,000 Starpoints
So, for $9300 I get 480,000 Starpoints (PS - I checked on the comment to buy Starpoints online at SPG - they are $35 per point and you can only buy 20,000 per year)
Potentially, I'd have 656,000 Starpoints at my disposal.

I am a big Hotel user too and can see good value in using Starpoints.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

$35/point??? I think you need to double check your math! I would first ask you if your option to buy additional star points is written into your contract or is a verbal promise. If it is a verbal promise, disregard it as it has less value then toilet paper.

If you are prepared to travel to Lagunamar every year, and do not mind paying an extra $10K or more for those starpoints, then go ahead with your deal. Just so you know though, Lagunamar is not that difficult to trade into within SVN, especially in the season you bought. I paid exactly $19900 less than you for a 2 bedroom SVV that gives me 67100 options - still not very many but it gets me into studios in Hawaii or a 2 bedroom off season in Harborside - something your 44000 staroptions would not do.

I promise you that the deal you signed will still be on the table in the future, take your time, research and determine which resort is best for you. If you are still committed to Lagunamar, and still want a developer purchase, at least first buy a resale that you could requalify.

You can buy 1,000 Starpoints for $35 - so Starwood values them at 3.5¢, not $35.

Also - did you finance this purchase? If so, you have to factor that into the cost.

Oops on math

Sorry about that Denise - I did not post the math correctly. Still a much beter deal with the options.

Not financing.

I'm glad to hear you aren't financing! Even if you think this is a good deal, I'd rescind anyway:

1) If you change your mind, they will give you the same deal, or even better, next week, next month...whenever. In this economy, it's a buyer's market.

2) You will have time to research all your options and be sure that you are making the best decision with no pressure.

3) This is your only chance to reconsider - but it's not your only chance to buy.

Good luck!

Thanks again

Thanks again. I have learned much in this process and from interacting with TUG!

Good personnel at Kierland

Bythe way, Suzanne and George at Kierland are very open and easy to deal with for those of you looking to leverage a Starwood Salesperson for retro sales.

I put them through the wringer to get more and more Starpoints + Options (all in writing as the other TUG'r suggested) and they were very accommodating.

PS - The resale I'm buying is at Kierland (mandatory) so retro doesn't help me for that one anyway.

blaine.schultz@gmail.com said:

PS - The resale I'm buying is at Kierland (mandatory) so retro doesn't help me for that one anyway.

Click to expand...

Actually, it DOES make a difference, because no resales have Starpoints - even at the mandatory resorts. If you buy the WKV resale first, and then requalify it with a developer purchase, it will have Starpoints.

If you buy Lagunamar 1st, and WKV 2nd, you won't be able to requalify WKV and it won't have any Starpoints.

Since Starpoints are important to you, that's a critical detail.

There is a steep learning curve with Starwood, and that's why I recommend you rescind and really do your research before buying anything.

I'm a bit confused about what you are saying - if you are buying a resale at WKV, but you aren't requalifying it, what are you discussing with Suzanne and George?

I ran the strategy of resale and retro by them and they said thet can help with that as well.

I have to spend at least $20K with them to do a retro. It is unlikely I will get all of the Starpoints benefits they are throwing out for FDI (but I could try). On retro sales the Developer has full discresion on how they retro the property (for WKV I like resale because I get the Staroptions for sure - for Lagunamar it is voluntary).

blaine.schultz@gmail.com said:

I ran the strategy of resale and retro by them and they said thet can help with that as well.

I have to spend at least $20K with them to do a retro. It is unlikely I will get all of the Starpoints benefits they are throwing out for FDI (but I could try). On retro sales the Developer has full discresion on how they retro the property (for WKV I like resale because I get the Staroptions for sure - for Lagunamar it is voluntary).

Click to expand...

Not quite. If you retro a property you will get your StarOptions for that property, based on the size and season of what you purchased, because retro means "bring the unit into the Starwood Vacation Ownership system". So buying a resale property at WMH or SVV another voluntary property, for cheaper than a mandatory property, will give you more value for the $20,000 you need to buy from the developer to bring it into the system. Compare prices for a 2BR LO at WMH resalve v. WKV resale. Very similar properties in many ways, very different prices. Or the voluntary v. mandatory sections for Orlando. Same thing.

I know this is confusing -- keep asking questions and we'll do our best to help out!

blaine.schultz@gmail.com said:

I ran the strategy of resale and retro by them and they said thet can help with that as well.

Click to expand...

What would you buy resale? What would you buy from the developer?

The developer cannot mess with how many Staroptions or Starpoints a week is worth. That is fixed based on unit size/season/resort.

If you are saying they have discretion over incentive Starpoints, that is true.

The 175,000 SPs is not really worth that much IMO. Certainly not enough to miss out on buying WKV resale and then retroing it with your Lagunamar purchase. I always think of practical costs, not cents per point. $175,000 SPs will get you 6-7 RT tickets on an airline, so at about $400 a ticket, that's about $3000.

It can instead buy you 7 nights in a lovely resort hotel with Starwood properties at 25,000 pts per night, valued at about $400 a night, maybe a total of $3000 value again at best.

Still, peanuts compared to the amount of money you are spending on your gold week that has VERY low SOs and SPs for use. Your option to buy a bunch more SPs for $3100 sounds like they are just selling it to you at what we think is a reasonable "cost." It's not an amazing deal but not bad. I would save the money and buy a nice resale property to retro!

Katherine