You forgpt something when you oriented the swap family to your home. The instruction manual you put together tels them where to find the fuse box, when to water the plants and how to operate the home theater system. You left a list of your favorite restaurants, brochures from local tourist attractions and guidebooks for your area. Thanks to your consideration, the exchangers had a wonderful stay at your home. But on the last day, crisis struck.
That's because you forgot to tell them what to do with the keys. This is a common oversight. It is important to determine whether you want your home left locked or unlocked, and share that request with the swap family. Then they need to know what to do with your house keys.
It's common to have swappers mail the keys back to you. But don't have your house keys sent to your house. Having a set of keys in an envelope with your address on it is too much of an invitation for mischief. Anyone who opens your mailbox could walk right into your home. Instead, have the keys sent to your work address, or to a friend's home.
Providing a self-addressed, stamped envelope increases the chances that your keys will make it home safely. The afore-mentioned self-addressed envelope should be a padded or tyvek envelope to make sure the keys will not get lost in the mail. We had swappers who mailed our keys in a regular envelope. The envelope arrived totally empty, with an irregular hole in one corner. The keys had worked their way out of the envelope and disappeared forever. If our keys were the kind that could not be replaced we would have been very annoyed.
Many devices are available to help you hide or securely store a key. Real estate agents use a box they hang on the doorknob with a code to open the box. The key is stored inside. There are also fake rocks that can be placed in the yard that have a secret compartment for the key.
Hiding the key under the front door mat or in a similarly obvious location is an invitation for your home to be broken into.
Having swappers meet with your friend or relative to pick up and drop off a key is the safest option. Even if you can't meet the exchangers, your key coordinator can make sure they seem responsible. However, make sure your key coordinator is herself responsible. An unreliable key person can lead to unhappy, stranded home exchangers, desperately trying to get into your home.
Don't forget the "key" to home exchange: knowing what to do with the home exchange key.
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