I presume you are saying you have a February Use Year? So the old points expire on Jan 31st?
How many points will be expiring?
Have these points already been banked in the past? Or were they borrowed from next year and brought back into 2018? Or Transferred?
THIS IS IMPORTANT: If your points WERE NOT Banked from 2017 (meaning, if they are 2018 points but they were never banked) then you really really should call up Member Services, once you have an account and beg them to let you Bank those points, even though the Banking Deadline ended in September. Depending on who you talk to, they really might be nice and allow you to do this ONE TIME, on the premise that you just took over those points and didn't have a chance to bank them before. If the cast member you talk to says now, then call back the next day and talk to a different cast member.
IF your points were banked from 2017, then your only chance is to use them or lose them. Since there is very little in the way of unreserved room Inventory left, this will be difficult. There are a few, very few days available for Studios, in Jan at SSR and AKV. There is just a little bit more 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom units available during January at SSR, AKV and OKW. Some of these blocks are 4 to 5 nights long, but there aren't many of them. If you can't use them yourself, or give them to Family, then open an account now with David's Vacation Rentals, and also some of the other main rental agencies. They just MIGHT be able to get someone who wants some of your points. You man need to offer to discount them to $12 or even $10 a point to get someone interested. Also, go to the appropriate forums here and on some of the other owner boards and make an account and list them for rent. Someone might be able to use them. There is also limited but still moderate availability at Aulani, Vero Beach and Hilton Head. You would probably need to discount them down to around $8 a point to get someone interested in using them there. (This is just a guess, for a possible starting position, if nothing else is working.) Other people might be interested in SSR if you needed to discount the points that far.
Whatever you do, don't give up.
Now, here is what I think is going to happen: Letter of Estoppel within a week (keep on top of your broker about this). You hurry and get your paperwork all done and final payments made within a week after that. Then you, again, start bothering your broker every 2 days or so. The owners finish their part within maybe 1 to 2 weeks, and then it probably takes the broker a week or so to close after that. They send it to Disney and Orange County Florida. You wait 3 business days and then start calling up DVC Member Services at 800-800-9800 EVERY DAY and asking them if they have your information and if they can help you set up an account to use them. Ask them if they can see your contract number in their system. Once they can see it, they can generally help you finalize it within 2 days or less. They will tell you to wait 5 to 7 to 14 days for a letter from them. DO NOT WAIT. Keep checking every day. On my contracts it took anywhere from 3 to 6 business days, with me calling them frequently. It also seems that not all cast members can get easy access to all the membership info, at first. So trying more often gives you a better chance of finding someone who can help you. Once things come through, if you add up all these time frames, you will probably be around January 25th, and all the rooms I mentioned above will probably be gone. Maybe if you are lucky, it might all be finished as much as 2 weeks earlier, but probably not.
Again, if your points weren't previously banked, beg to bank them.
That is about all the advice I can offer you.
