4 tips in doing a home exchange

 If you are in contact with someone who would like to do a home exchange, there are important things to remember before handing over your keys. Here are tips for planning your housing swap.

• If you are exchanging houses for a long period of time, it's a good idea to forward your mail to your new address. This ensures you don't miss important notifications and deadlines and prevents your mail from piling up at home.
• Remind the people you are exchanging with to also forward their mail, so that you don't have two households' worth of letters being delivered.

• It's a good idea to hold onto your own set of keys and leave a separate set with the people who will be staying in it.
• It's also helpful to have a set made to give to a trusted friend or family member who lives in the area. That way if there are any issues, or the tenants lose their keys, they can contact your friend for help.

• Whether you live in a house or apartment, you may want to let your neighbours know that you are exchanging your home with someone else for a little while. That way they can keep an eye on your house and offer assistance to your guests if necessary.
• It also ensures they won't be concerned about seeing unfamiliar people coming and going from your home.

• Make sure that you leave out enough clean linens for your new tenants to serve as many people as will be staying in the house. Let them know where they can wash their sheets and towels and agree upon what condition you'd like the house to be in upon your arrival.
• The more you discuss beforehand, the less chance there will be of any misunderstandings between the two parties.