Marriott vs. Starwood

Hello, My husband and I are interested in purchasing a Marriott or Starwood resale, but are very new to the game. We just went to the Westin Kierland Villas in Scottsdale where we got the timeshare presentation. We were interested in buying, but knew that there was a resale market and wanted to learn more before making a decision on buying. After reading these forums, I've decided that resale is surely the way to go to save money upfront. A few questions for those who understand this system:

We're deciding between a Marriott and Westin and would like feedback on advanatages/disadvantages to these. I understand that on the resale market the Starwood options cannont be transfered to points and the Marriott cannont be turned into reward points. Neither of these affect us since we have small children and want to use the vacation clubs.

At the timeshare presentation, they told us that the property you buy (this is Westin) doesn't matter because you're basically buying the points and those can be traded for any Starwood Vacation property without a problem. From what I have read, it sounds like the location and time of your timeshare greatly influence how you can trade your timeshare on Interval International. Please share your experiences with this.

We would appreciate any advice on how to maximize our buying resale potential (e.g., time of season to buy, location with best trading potential, Interval International tricks, etc...)

Thank you!

If you haven't all ready done so, go to the TUG forum at www.tugbbs.com and post your question there. TUG has separate thread for Marriott and Starwood (and others) resorts. You'll find plenty of information.

We purchased timeshare in Hilton Head 25 years ago when our children were small. We enjoyed many great vacations there and wonderful exchanges through RCI. A bit of advice to a newcomer, this is not an investment and you may not get your money back if you sell. With that said, buy in a place you'll enjoy. We have traded for Marriott resorts and they are lovely. You may be limiting yourself with exchanges going for one of these two you listed. Be very careful about buying points, as some of my reaearch in recent years indicates more points are sold than there is availability. It's hard to prove that and you'll never know for sure. We own a deeded property, same weeks every year. I agree resale is the best bargin and some resorts have resale units on site. We attended a presentation in Las Vegas in 11/08 and the best deal was after we said absolutely no sale. The last stop before the door, the price was cut in half. We will be listing units for resale within the next couple weeks. If I can be of any help let me know. Diana