DL use points or rent them?

[FreeTime]

I know that I have seen several posts concerning this in the past, but can't seem to find them. We are planning a DL trip and I was wondering for those of you that have used your points did you feel like you were losing money? I don't like to deal with hassles and it would be easier to just book the room with points. However, if I can get a discounted rate, I could rent fewer points and pay cash. So for those of you that rented, how do you find a reliable person to rent to? Do you trust the rent/trade boards here? We have a classified web board at work and I thought I could post a WDW room for rent there, but it might not work as when I discuss this at work now many coworkers don't understand what I deem as value on a Disney room. (They would rather pay $60 offsite at DI then $75 at the AllStars, when they could easily afford the Poly). Lastly, since DL only has 3 resorts is it difficult to book a room using points or as long as there is a room available I can get it? Since we are planning on going during the 50th I am concerned that they will be booked. Is it possible for them to be booked a certain week on cash but have rooms set aside for DVC? Thanks!

 

[TravelingJen24]

If you are booking the week of the actual 50th birthday, then good luck because from what I hear they are already basically sold out. So much that they have held onto rooms and released them later so that other people will have a chance.
We just used 280 point to stay in a theme park view at the Grand California. It is a lot of points, but we had to use them or we would lose them. Otherwise I would not use the points. You can usually get a decent rate when time gets closer. Since we are going for five days over thanksgiving, the best rate that I could get as of now was AAA for 290.00. So I didn't think it was too bad. For us, renting is too big a hassle and would rather use the points ourselves. I know that if we sell them, we will just end up using the money for something other than a trip, and that is not why I bought into this in the first place.
So do whatever works best for you, but keep your eyes open for good rates.