I have just begun registering with housing swap entities in order to spend most of summer 2006 in Spain. This would be for me and my 14 year old granddaughter. We have a small house in the wine country in Sebastopol, California (Sonoma County).

Any advice you give?

topping for walengalen

A little advice: In the world of house swapping, the hour is late, so don't delay getting the process started. Your house in Sebastopol should be attractive to prospective swappers. Also keep your options open for the location where you want to swap. We wanted a Germany swap one year but ended up in Luxembourg and loved it.

We participated in a successful swap last summer, and traded our home outside DC for a home near Stockholm. Trip report here: http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34657438

Agree with Betsy that many exchanges are arranged early in the fall, although last summer we didn't work it all out until Feb. Best of luck with your plans and I'd also advise being flexible. It is a great way to experience a locality.

Another tip: There are experienced house swappers on this forum who may not be checking in here at Fodors over the holiday weekend. Continue to top your post for replies during the coming week.

Oops, just realized you're a new Fodorite. One important fact about using this board that's not immediately apparent when you register, is that clicking on your user name (walengalen) at the very top of the page in the yellow field next to the word "Welcome" will bring up all your previous posts.

I've been house swapping for 12 yrs now and except for my first exchange to Brittany (which was arranged in June), the exchanges have all been arranged by Xmas. That is not to say, you won't be able to arrange an exchange, but you need to register, and start e-mailing potential exchangers quickly. Also, Spain (in my experience) has less offers out there. However, you have a very attractive location and you should make sure that when you write potential exhangers that you mention its many attractions and the areas that you are close to. If you use the Homelink site, you may be interested to know that they have a discussion forum which is very helpful. Good luck. It's a wonderful way to travel.