We have used Timeshare Store and
DVC By Resale - both were good, the only reason why we went with a different place the second time was that they had the contract we wanted, and were able to work with the seller to get the price we wanted - we offered, they countered, we accepted the counter - it was a great price!
As far as the resort, here are three things to think about that I haven't seen mentioned....
UY - you want to go at a specific time of the year, make sure your points will be in your account, ready and waiting for you to make a reservation for the following year. It sounds like December would be a great UY for you, if you always want to travel in November. Your points will be placed in your account on December 1, ready for a late December, 11 month reservation for the following November.
Contract Expiration - if you go to buy one of the older resorts, remember that your Right To Use will expire sooner than if you buy a newer resort (OR buy Old Key West, from an owner who extended their contract!)
Limits on Resale contracts - be sure you know what you can and cannot use your resale points for! Make sure that buying resale will not limit your enjoyment of your purchase!
We own points at 4 resorts, 2 were purchased direct because it was the best deal for us at that particular time, and 2 were purchased resale... for the same reason. I have yet to see a HHI contract make it through ROFR for less than what we paid, it was a crazy good deal!
They didn't have HHI points available in the quantity we wanted, or the UY we wanted, so they pretty much told us to hit the resale market (this was just a month before the changes were announced!)
Finally, make sure you compare apple to apples - assure that you are taking banked and available points in to consideration when comparing contracts! Also, make sure you understand EXACTLY what you will owe - you don't want a surprise of being required to pay a year's worth of MF's at closing!
If the seller will not budge on their price, move along, or counter back with the seller covering closing costs if you are very close on the price.
In my opinion, you can't go wrong with Saratoga Springs - low MF's will keep your LONG TERM cost of ownership to a minimum. With all of the exciting changes coming to DTD, I think it will add a whole new dimension to staying at SSR!
The low purchase price per point at Saratoga Springs, and Maintenance Fees under $5.00 (for now... though it will likely be just above $5.00 for next year)
With so many of the resorts either at $6.00 per points, or over... the saving long term would be thousands of dollars.
If we were to sell our AKV points and buy additional points at SSR, we could save over $12,000 over the life of the contract if the MF's keep pace with one another.
So do the math... ALL the math... before buying a contract!
Each time before making a DVC purchase, I have calculated out the total cost of ownership over the lifetime of the contract, and calculated the cost per point over the long haul.
Most resort ownerships/RTU expire in 2042 with the exception of Saratoga Springs at 2054, Animal Kingdom 2057, Bay Lake Tower and Grand Californian in 2060.