One of the reasons I liked booking through owners here on this disboards is because some have an option to reschedule at a small cost, and sometimes even no extra cost.
With that, it is very important to keep in mind:
* The owners can only help to the extent their points are valid. Points have a final expiration date, which can vary greatly between the folks listing points to rent here (depending on if banked, borrowed or current UY, what that UY is and if the points can still be banked then what is the deadline). This does require familiarity with the DVC system, but many owners will offer up the latest dates you can decide to reschedule, and the latest dates the points must be used by. That answer will be different across owners here.
* Rescheduling may require accepting fewer options to get a new booking done. Personally that was an OK compromise for us.
For example, we’ve always rented from owners for their home priority (typically Poly or BC) and I knew rescheduling would likely mean needing to change over to a resort with more inventory and lower demand. But at least I’d still be staying deluxe WDW
It’s an individual choice though, depending on your risk of needing changes and comfort level.