Which month should we look for?

I don't know that it makes a difference.

Rule of thumb with DVC is, "buy where you want to stay". I expect that as the marathon continues to grow in popularity, rooms will be harder to obtain at 7 mo mark. Actually, the months you might consider to be "off-season", are very popular with DVC members. Lower room point values, Food and Wine, and Christmas decorations, have made October, November, December 1-23, and January, "prime times" for DVC. The resorts most likely to have availability at 7 month mark are SSR, OKW, and AKV, as they have the most rooms/villas. If for example you want to stay at BWV, but there is no availability, you could book SSR to guarantee you have a room, and waitlist at BWV. If there are enough cancellations at BWV(all days must be available at same time), they would automatically change your reservation from SSR to BWV. Cancellations will occur during that 7 month period, as members approach their deadlines for banking points, and generally increase the closer it gets to 30 days out.

My best guess at 7 month for Jan/Feb is more rooms available mid January(after marathon) to mid February(prior to President's week).

I have never tried for a race weekend, but the "event" weekends that I have tried for I didn't always get to stay where I wanted to at 7 months out.

Skunk is pretty dead on and I agree with the buy where you want to stay rule of thumb. "Home" Resort always gets booking priority.

I was able to book my home resort, AKL for a June trip, then swap to OKW because I wanted to do something different. I do know that SSR and OKW are "easier" to get, so say the DVC member services people. And that OKW booking saved me points over the one I had reserved in AKL as well, giving me more to play with for the spring break week - a premium points week.

I am hoping to manage a BWV or BC or WL stay at some point. I would really like to try them all at least once.

That's a tough one because it depends on how you travel. I have 185 and it's not enough for my family. I feel like I would be comfortable at about 225-250. I have been borrowing point from my next use year every year.

The "not being enough" has been based on two 3-5 night vacations a year since 2008. Usually including a weekend, but never during the most expensive season. One trip has been in a studio, the second in a two bedroom. If I didn't need the 2 bedroom villas I think the 185 would be okay.

1-buy where you want to stay. You never know if disney will change booking windows or other conditions, so be safe and buy where you want to stay. Also you may decide to stay at an Epcot resort during F&W, or go during Christmas. The eleven month booking window will really be a help then.
2-your use year should be a month or two before you plan to usually vacation. So you will get your points before you go and the next year will be availabel to borrow. Also, if you make a change you will not be in the suspended points period. Also helps with banking points.

yes- exactly right.

ditto what Colonel said. I just bought resale, and it took over 2 months to actually get the points - had to go through contract signing back and forth, ROFR (passed, whew), then the closing docs, then having Disney get the paperwork and put me in the system. The hardest wait other than ROFR was waiting for the member number after closing.

So I got my pts in early Jan, but I was unable to get six consequetive nights in my home resort for an April trip. I have had to break up the trip. I was, however, able to get a June and a November week, and just traded my June week for a week at BWV, even though home is AKL. YES...BDW in the summer! Unfortnately, they did not have all my nights in one section, so I will have to make an inhouse room swap during the week unless my waitlist comes through for that one too.

I had exactly the same question as taratru. But, I want to take it one step further.

Say, I like to travel in early December, so I buy a resale DVC with an anniversary date of October. That way, if I need to cancel a reservation after October, I have about 9 months to make other plans.

My question is - Say I complete my purchase in June of this year (and there are no banked points from 2012), will I be able to make a reservation for this December, or do I need to wait till I actually get points in my account in October?

You would not have to wait until October to request a reservation. Let's say that the resale is complete and you are in DVC system as of June 15, 2013. Using that June 15 date, you can immediately use the Oct 2013 points to:

1. Request a reservation at your home resort, for Oct 1, 2013 thru May 15, 2014.....banking rules apply
2. Request a reservation at any resort, for Oct 1, 2013 thru Jan 15, 2014...............banking rules apply
3. Borrow Oct 2013 points for any resort June 15, 2013 thru Sept 30, 2013. Borrowed points can't be banked, and they would expire end of Sept 2013 if not used.

Thank you! That was an excellent explanation and a great example !

MegMML. This is the best group for all things Disney and as you can see very knowledgeable to boot!