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Re: Marriott Going to Point Syst (by Erman C.):

Happy President's Day to all,

Glad to share info as I come across it as well as my own thoughts (when they seem worthy). I do have a another thought to share as we get more involved with the operations and management of our respective Marriott timeshare resorts.

- Maintenance fees (MFs) are the primary cost item for deeded owners, but other than complaining about them when they increase what have we done to keep them reasonable? In a perfect world MFs are the taxes and operating costs (maintenance, repair, capitol improvements, etc) divided by the number of owners. Unfortunately, we live in the not too perfect world where many fail to pay their MFs each year (reasons vary), but in the end the responsible owners end up paying a larger share. Note: This pool of paying owners includes individuals and MVCI (for unsold units).

So let break this down a bit more:

Taxes: Property taxes always seem to go up on real estate. Actually, not always! In the past few years real estate values have dropped dramatically as the economy has dropped. Property taxes on my own home have dropped two years in a row so has a similar drop been applied to our resorts. Demand your board of directors' (BDs) treasurer or MVCI check it and if they have not gone down push them to have it reassessed. Trust me when this recession is over and property goes up again the tax rates will go up quickly.

Management costs: This is done by MVCI and for the most part it is done very well so I don't see a need to change, but it would be nice to have BDs compare per/unit costs to say Hilton Vacation Club or Sheraton to see how MVCI compares. If they are higher, perhaps we should negotiate a better rate.

Maintenance, repairs, capitol improvements: This is the majority of our MFs and dependent on age and condition of the units. When you stay at your unit "inspect" the unit, grounds, building exteriors, and facilities using the same eye you would use if you were considering purchasing a unit. I actually try to take an "owner's" tour of all the timeshares I stay at or can visit. If the resort is top-notch we can thank MVCI for enforcing high standards. If you see issues bring them up to mgmt, and write to your BDs with issues and recommendations. So how do we lower MFs? First we need to know how MVCI is sourcing work and capitol improvements. Are they competing housekeeping, maintenance, repairs, and capitol improvements? If not ask them why not? The difference between retail and wholesale or sole-source or competitive bids is tremendous especially in today's economy.

Unpaid MF's: All of the above should be things MVCI already handles well since they are considered the industry leader in property management. This topic seems to be one they don't have much control over. They send out our MF bills which owners pay on-time. If they pay late, they pay a late fee. If some or many don't pay at all, they get reported to a collection agency and paying owners have the unpaid MFs added to our total next year as reserve funds drop/become underfunded. If the delinquent owner has an unpaid mortage too, it eventually is foreclosed on and sold at auction. We see many of these on eBay sold by large timeshare firms liquidating dozens of units. So how many owners get a report on the MF's that were not paid in the past year? Is it in the annual financial report? If not, it should be there and even noted in newsletters or resort websites. So what happens to these units when MFs go unpaid. Do they go unused? Does MVCI try to rent them out via Marriott for the 66% return (33% fee to Marriott)? Perhaps all these units could also be listed on RedWeek for $25/wk and reduced as start date approach so units get rented. In the end, we should all know the procedure used for unpaid MFs since this directly impacts paying owner's annual MFs.

Foreclosed units and/or owner resales: In trying to achieve 100% owner payment of MF's I believe it is required that all units need to be owned by responsible parties. Sadly, in the current economy that is not the case even for Marriott timeshares. To improve this situation, I propose our BD's or owners offer to list these units on RedWeek or TUG, etc to find new responsible owners at reasonable values. How many of us would consider an additional unit at our favorite Marriott timeshare at perhaps a fraction of what MVCI is struggling to sell at high retail DPs values? Bottom-line is I'd like to see a single site with listings of all Marriott timeshare resales that banks/lenders could also list foreclosed units for auction. I strongly believe current Marriott owners are the best market for resales/auctions and the best source for new potential buyers (family, friends, etc).

Just more food for thought and owner action in the coming months/year. If you do one thing this year, make a list of questions (copy mine above or use others on this site as a starting point if you wish) and send it to to your BDs. Encourage them to be responsive if they don't elect those that will or consider running yourself with a platform based on those things we know to be best for deeded owners. Finally encourage them to create a sharing forum/website for all Marriott Deeded Owners so we can organize and demand responsiveness from MVCI.

We should all take our ownerships seriously and perhaps we can even help each other achieve the ownership level of satisfaction we expect from Marriott. Until then happy vacationing. Remember book early and don't forget the sunscreen. For now, I'm off to fix lunch and enjoy the rest of President's Day.

Erman

PS: Sorry if this was mostly off the topic of the new Destination Point's system. I'll restate my view that I support it as far as it offers me another option in using my deeded units. I believe the points owners will be getting less as they are members of a collection of units. I belive most points will be sold at locations like Hawaii, Marco Island, Orlando, or West Palm but be backed by the Collections less desireable unsold inventory that MVCI still owns. I for one would like to only trade my deeded units for DPs when the dates/locations I desire are available "Request/Book First". Otherwise, I recommend we deeded owners keep pressing MVCI and II to respond to our needs as the owners or find another form of internal trading (perhaps RedWeek DAE?) that more closely matches our original vision and experiences. Cheers!