I just wanted to chime in with a different perspective, that it may depend on which resort you want and how far in advance you can book. Like if you were wanting to stay at VGF, possibly Polynesian in the future, certain room types like standard views that take less points, BCV or BWV during the food and wine festival, etc., you need to own at those particular locations and book at 11 months in order to stay there. The point is, and I've heard this from other members who were unhappy and looking to trade contracts, is that you may not get what you want with a cheaper contract that is tied to a resort you really don't want to stay at most of the time.
So do some research and find out where you really want to stay. If you really do want to consistently book at the Polynesian then direct might make sense right now. Possibly also for VGF and VGC, since the resale on those isn't much cheaper. The older resorts resale would be cheaper. Also keep in mind it takes a few months to close on a resale contract, and there can be bumps in the road, whereas with direct you get to use the points immediately and the use years are matched up so you always have the same use years with all your purchases.
