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anybody that has acquired a Vidanta(Grand mayan , Grand luxxe) unit in the resale market.

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
please only the ones that have done respond to it . i have seen a lot of people answering in other posts when they are just guessing or have never actually done it . im trying to find specific help . was it worth it ? , how much was the transfer ? what did you loose from the original purchase agreement ? , are u still able to accumulate Vida dollars ?
i got a broker offering a unit there but in the past i tryed to transfer one and it was very expensive ,tedious and very blur , so i did not finalized .
i will really appreciate your experience.
thanks

* i have to repeat , please answer only if you have become an owner buying from a previous owner , thanks again
 

tschwa2

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Do you want answers from those who did it 10+ years ago or only those who have done it recently? One thing to keep in mind is that Vidanda is constantly changing their contracts and the answers to your questions will be different depending on the contract of the seller (original owner). Unless you buy from someone who bought the same thing during the year, the answers won't be applicable to you. I don't think you will find any one here who has bought resale in the last 10 years for the same reason that you did not?
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
thanks , i kind of have seem that , they like to make it very confusing , i would prefer anybody who has done it recently but i will appreciate any feedback . and yes it seems like it also depends on the contract of the original owner .
thanks
 

pittle

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We have not bought a resale since 2007, but between 2004 - 2007, we bought a total of five 2-bedroom MP units and one 1-bedroom unit. The average price for a 2-bedroom unit was $2760 including the transfer fees. The 1-bedroom MP unit was $1025. All were purchased on eBay. All of these together cost less than the $15,800 we paid for our original 2-bedroom MP unit that we bought from Mayan World. We traded 2 contacts consisting of three 2-bedroom units in for two Grand Mayan 2-bedroom units in 2007. We also paid an additional amount, but know that we made an awesome deal.

Two of our resale purchases had the 10% of the original purchase price as transfers, but the others had the 1 MF for transfer price. As I said, these were included in what we paid. The owners lost a lot of money to get out of the contract.

In 2013, we traded the two GM weeks and 4 remaining MP weeks in for two 2-bedroom GL units. The cost was just a little more than the fees we would be paying for renovations until the end of the contracts. We had been given the No Pay unless you go on all our weeks in 2007, so the renovation fees were what we used for our base to upgrade with.

Since they started the 10x the MF, resales have pretty much closed down. MF for a 2-bedroom MP is $1000+ now, so Mayan World would get $10,000 plus for a transfer. GM, GB, and GL The MF are significantly higher, so if you have a 2-bedroom GL, Mayan World would get about $20,000 plus and for our two 2-bedroom units it would be more than $40,000! My GL contract states that the No Pay Unless You Go and any benefits like golf and massages do not transfer.

For your information - I have posted this before, but this is how the transfer fees work.........

Before August 2002, transfer fees for Mayan Palace units were the cost of Maintenance fees for 1 year. The Vacation Fair week transfers with the contract. (A large majority of these have now upgraded to Grand Mayan and their old units are sold with the new terms.) These have a 25 year renewal fee(5 MF) and 5 year renovation fee that is equal to 1 MF.

From August 2002 - November 2005, it was 10% of the original purchase price. The Vacation Fair week does transfer with the contract. I am not sure they started selling Grand Mayan units before 2003. This was the information for Mayan Palace that was in a contract that we had. This has the 5 year renovation fee and 25 year renewal.

The 5 times the MF to transfer (sell) to another person started in late 2005, just before we upgraded to two GM 2-bedroom units in April 2006. These also had a 5 year renovation fee that is equal to 1 MF. The no pay unless you go feature was new in 2006, but came with an addendum that if you transferred your contract to someone else, the Vacation Fair (bonus week) and the no pay unless you go feature does not go with the transfer.

In 2008, there were some contracts that still had the 5 year renovation fee that was then 1-1/2 the cost of your MF, and still had the 5 times the MF to transfer to someone else. These also had the 25 year renewal fee that was 5 times the MF.

I am not exactly sure when, but by the time we upgraded to the Grand Luxxe in 2013, the cost to transfer your week to someone else had gone up to 10 times the MF and none of the special benefits, especially the no pay unless you go and extra weeks go with the transfer. The new contracts have some 10 year renewal options which seem to change regularly. transfer to immediate family is $ 0 - no charge , and VF week and no pay addendum DO transfer and the registered week renews as a registered week at the 25 year renewal .

Therefore, owners tend to use the No Pay feature and do not renew.​

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Transfer fees are waived for immediate family members – Children, Grandchildren or Heirs. (This statement is in contracts that I have after 2005.)
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
this is phenomenal , i have been searching for this type of answer for a long time . it has been such a puzzle to find one piece of information here another piece over there and also something works this way but it can also work this other way . i do appreciate it so much , i got it thank too to whoever started this community .
one more question remains unsolved , what about the Vida program , Vidanta dollars or ambassador program , apparently it has had this names over the years . would i be able to get my 10 certificates a year ? would they cut that too during the re-sale ?
anybody could answer that one ?
at the end of the day that is what interest me the most , theorically you could travel with someone and use the certificate on their name ,so that you get the $300 Vida dollar as a reward .i do know it is a one week one time per person only but the way i see it as i travel with a bunch of people it will be easy to find me someone ,so that they take over the suite and i use the studio (using a 2 bedroom unit) and then i get rewarded for it . that will really work for me rather than my own use fee .
i have asked Vidanta about it and they don't like to disclose much but everyone says that once you become a member you can sign up for the program and for the best interest of the resort "most likely you will be able to get it" . i never had a straight answer but at the end this would make the difference otherwise it will be a NO NO as
with the fees and the fact that the bonus weeks get lost in the transfer it won't be worth it , if i get my 10 certificates per year then it will .
last but no least at the presentation i attended they show me the MF or use fee as they call it for the 2 bedroom Grand Mayan as $1190
are they equal for everybody (talking specifically about the same unit) or they actually differ according to each individual contract ?
thanks
 

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Your $300 Vida dollars as a reward are practically useless.
I am sure Vidanta will love to give you certificates to bring new potential buyers for their sharks to eat.
You might lose friends when they finish their "presentation", is it worth 300 almost useless Vida dollars?
If you are taking the word of your presenters, you will most likely be lied to at the very least.
 

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BTW, I have 2 Mayan Palace contracts, both resales. One, a two bedroom suite, had a single MF transfer fee.
The other, a one bedroom suite, had a 10% transfer fee.
I have brought friends and relatives to stay with me, but never on the Ambassador or whatever program to get Vida dollars.
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
Your $300 Vida dollars as a reward are practically useless.
I am sure Vidanta will love to give you certificates to bring new potential buyers for their sharks to eat.
You might lose friends when they finish their "presentation", is it worth 300 almost useless Vida dollars?
If you are taking the word of your presenters, you will most likely be lied to at the very least.

you are confusing the Vida dollars with Vida cash , sorry im using their corporate lingo but just to make it clear . the Vida cash is when your guests attend a presentation and end up buying , they will give you $500 in a prepaid visa card , so you can use for whatever . Vida dollar is also part of a referal from when someone uses your certificates , those you can use to pay for everything at Vidanta except your use fees (maintenance fees) , but they are as good as cash for restaurants , the spa , the buffett . omnia , joya , golf or even activities like tours or attractions at the concierge , the deli , the boutique . i really can appreciate those and im really convienced it is the best reward program out there .
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
BTW, I have 2 Mayan Palace contracts, both resales. One, a two bedroom suite, had a single MF transfer fee.
The other, a one bedroom suite, had a 10% transfer fee.
I have brought friends and relatives to stay with me, but never on the Ambassador or whatever program to get Vida dollars.

so lucky i found you , i really appreciate your info .
so , you bought two units from re-sale but you don't have the Vida program . as they told me , you would have to sign up for it , but that is the answer im looking for
i would keep in touch but you better get in touch with Vidanta and see if they will sign u up for it . it is totally worth it , my quest has been that i dont know if when you buy re-sale you really get them .

thank you much
 

Eric B

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The terms of the Ambassador certificates prohibit occupancy by a Vidanta owner as a guest. Probably because what they are for is getting customer referrals. In any case, access to them generally doesn't transfer with resales.
 

pittle

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We passed on the Vida dollars and Ambassador program when we upgraded to Grand Luxxe. We did not want to give them to our friends go and have to endure the presentation. We like them better than a $500 Visa card.
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
The terms of the Ambassador certificates prohibit occupancy by a Vidanta owner as a guest. Probably because what they are for is getting customer referrals. In any case, access to them generally doesn't transfer with resales.

thanks i didn't know that . the salesperson during the presentation said otherwise (as they usually say , whatever you want to hear) . it makes sense , i do appreciate it .
hopefully rpenissi will find out ,as it seems it didnt come with it or as i was told , once you become an owner you have to sign up for the program . it seems on the very best interest of the company as you will be promoting them . but it could be part of the game to get you to upgrade paying some $$$

thanks a lot
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
im new to this , so i dont know how to reply to whoever i wanted to , i hope you understand
 

tschwa2

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I am a little confused. Have you bought but are looking to rescind and buy resale or to keep what you have and add to what you have? If you are looking to add wouldn't you still have the certificates you already get or are you looking to double or triple what you get?
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
i dont own there , someone offered me a membership there , i just happened to have attended a presentation in the past , but i didn't buy . i dont think i will ever buy anything from the developer as i know this resale market and how most of the game is full of lies . i do have to confess that i really like Vidanta , mainly because it is non all inclusive and their reward program seem pretty worth it .
 

Passepartout

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im new to this , so i dont know how to reply to whoever i wanted to , i hope you understand
To privately message on TUG, just click their blue username and start a conversation.
 

chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
thanks a lot
 

T-Dot-Traveller

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..... . i do have to confess that i really like Vidanta ,

mainly because it is non all inclusive
and their reward program seem pretty worth it .

TUG members who own Vidanta :

1) like the quality level and attention to detail that Vidanta offers.
This includes full daily housekeeping service and towel replacement .

2) prefer non AI / while having on-resort restaurant options as well as having the option to visit the many off resort restaurants in Mexico.

3) may find that using your contract week during peak season ( Jan - April / snowbird season) is generally the best MF dollar value use . Vidanta builds for peak season ; and has easier exchange access in other months .

4) Generally find that in actual use - the rewards programs (Vida Dollars - Ambassador Certs. etc ) have limited value . These programs have been added to new contracts sold since approx. 2014 ( the past 5 year’s or so )

5) A likely exception to (#4) is the 2019 offer (45th Anniversary)of a resort credit for paying /using a week between June and mid November . In my case -I received a $450 resort credit for using our Vacation Fare bonus week - 2019 MF $ 760 approx. .The resort credit is usable at resort restaurant , room service , pool area food service etc .
 
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Eric B

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chaparrusa

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vacation village at bonaventure , sheraton vistana orlando ,
i see you guys have been building up a profile , this is great , im really happy i joined .
 

pittle

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last but no least at the presentation i attended they show me the MF or use fee as they call it for the 2 bedroom Grand Mayan as $1190
are they equal for everybody (talking specifically about the same unit) or they actually differ according to each individual contract ?
thanks

The MF are NOT the same for every unit of the same size in a grouping.

When we owned many MP units, We had 3 different prices for our 2-bedroom MP units. It depends on when the contract was sold. The one bought in February 1999 was $50 lower than the one originally bought in June 1999 and $100+ less than one that was originally purchased in October 2000.

The MF starting amount can be changed at any time and then each year, there is generally a 3% or 5% annual MF increase. The oldest contracts have 3%, but most have 5%.
 
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rferrel1

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Do you want answers from those who did it 10+ years ago or only those who have done it recently? One thing to keep in mind is that Vidanda is constantly changing their contracts and the answers to your questions will be different depending on the contract of the seller (original owner). Unless you buy from someone who bought the same thing during the year, the answers won't be applicable to you. I don't think you will find any one here who has bought resale in the last 10 years for the same reason that you did not?


Are you saying you think there have been very few resales in the past ten years? Would that be because the transfer fees are so onerous that the net value from a sale approaches zero if the seller pays the transfer?

Just wondered why you think there are very few transfers/resales in the last ten years.

Ron
rferrel1@hotmail.com
 

dioxide45

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Are you saying you think there have been very few resales in the past ten years? Would that be because the transfer fees are so onerous that the net value from a sale approaches zero if the seller pays the transfer?

Just wondered why you think there are very few transfers/resales in the last ten years.

Ron
rferrel1@hotmail.com
It would seem that perhaps the "only pay MFs if you go" is the leading cause for the drop in resales. People don't have that annual need to unload Vidanta like owners of other resorts do.
 

pittle

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Are you saying you think there have been very few resales in the past ten years? Would that be because the transfer fees are so onerous that the net value from a sale approaches zero if the seller pays the transfer?

Just wondered why you think there are very few transfers/resales in the last ten years.

Ron
rferrel1@hotmail.com

I personally think it is because because of the Transfer Fees. The 10x the MF goes directly to Vidanta. If your MF are in the $1000 - $2000 range, you will be paying them $10,000 - $20,000, so the current owner will not recoup any of their initial purchase money because folks who are buying resale want a deal. They do not want to pay the same price that they would at Vidanta. Back when the Transfer was just 1 MF, it was possible to get some of your money back, but I found that people who are reselling usually just want out of the perpetual MF.

The No Pay Unless You Go has also caused some owners to just not go and then not renew. It is a no hassle way to get out. Either way, you basically have lost your initial investment.
 
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