Ok....

1. SVO properties are deeded. I am staring at my deed right now. (I need to do better with my filing.)

2. Resales are an option. myresortnetwork.com has many Starwood resales listed for many locations. HOWEVER, one of the **best** things about Starwood Vacation Ownership is the ability to exchange into other properties using the internal SVN (Starwood Vacation Network) system. When you buy a resale, you need to buy at a resort designated **MANDATORY** by Starwood, because that will ensure you get the benefits of being in SVN, even with a resale unit. Mandatory resorts are Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas, Westin Kierland Resort Villas, Harborside, Westin St. John Villas, and Vistana Village in Orlando.

3. The only way to get SPG GOLD and to have the ability to trade your vacation ownership unit into Starpoints..... is to BUY FROM STARWOOD. No resale will give you that benefit.

4. The only way to get SPG PLATINUM is to purchase **MANY** vacation ownership units directly from Starwood. You need to be a FIVE STAR Elite SVO owner. In the SVN network each unit is valued by the number of **Staroption Points** assigned to it. These points are the "currency" used to exchange in Starwoods internal exchange network. For example, an every year Maui 2 bedroom lockoff is worth 148,100 Staroption points..... and to become a Five Star Elite and get SPG Platinum benefits, you would need to own many units with staroption points totaling 559,000. So whatever/where ever you own, any season, you need to have bought enough units from Starwood directly, to have at least 559K Staroptions...... and then you are Platinum as long as you maintain that level of ownership.

This chart shows for each Starwood resort, for each type of unit, in every possible season, what the StarOptions value is, for internal trading.

http://www.starwoodvo.com/ownership/...ions_Chart.pdf