Originally posted by Mellie2162
I think I understand. In other words, if I owned 50 points at VWL and 50 at say BWV, I could only book VWL at 11 months for however many days the 50 points would cover at that time?
That's correct. However, DVC does allow you to bank one year's points forward into the next year, and you can also borrow points one year in advance.
So, in the scenario you describe, in 2004 you could use your BWV points for 2004 and borrow your 50 from 2005 giving you 100 to book at stay at BWV at the 11-month window.
At the same time, you could bank your 2004 VWL points into 2005. That would give you 100 points in 2005 to use at 11 months to book a stay at that resort.
To answer your other question about Use Year, at the time of original purchase, points are assigned to a specific Use Year. If you bought direct from DVC (min 150 pts), you could probably pick any UY you want. However, resale contracts already have the UY assigned. You would either have to look for a contract with a specific year, or settle for whatever you can find. Contracts of less than 150 points tend to he harder to come by.
If you then decided to add-on points later in a purchase from DVC, the points would have to carry the same use year as your base contract. As mydogdrew said, DVC will only sell you a different Use Year if you buy an add-on of 150 points or more (which really becomes a separate contract rather than an add-on.)