Personal Locker Login:
Preparing your Home for an Exchange
Firstly, please read the comments within the Member Etiquette section. While this covers the spirit of understanding the Member Etiquette responsibilities in preparing your Home for an exchange, following are some additional check lists.
A. Concierge Journal
Along with your Member Listing, which will guarantee maximum exchange offers, your Concierge Journal is the most important aspect in guaranteeing mutually enjoyable exchanges, and positive Member feedback.
Your Concierge Journal – click here (pdf) for a recommended layout, consists of “must do” elements such as:-
- written confirmation your exchange partners, as your guests, are entitled to be in your home between the dates of ________ and ___________.
- your House Rules
- instructions on where to find everything, and how it works
- emergency phone numbers and contact details
- Household Services schedule and phone numbers
- Home Security system
- Equipment and Appliances – location and instructions
- Pet and Garden care – if agreed to
- Off limits areas, facilities and household items
However, really memorable exchanges are greatly assisted by the following “unexpected” inclusions in your Concierge Journal:-
- contact details for your Welcome Committee
- list of local events and festivals during the exchange
- recommended restaurants, shopping experiences, and local attractions, with travel times for each
- invitations to join your friends for golf games
- temporary golf or health club memberships
- timetables for public transport and directions for accessing the preferred options
- menus from recommended home delivery restaurants
Just like the best Concierge you have ever experienced in an upmarket hotel, your Journal should have all the answers to the expected enquiries, and a few surprises that indicate your creativity and your level of care.
B. Welcome Committee
In conjunction with a carefully prepared Concierge Journal, the selection of a friend, neighbour or family member to act as Welcome Committee, is the guaranteed means of getting the exchange started with the least concern for your guests.
The all-important first impressions, plus the concerns of handing over the keys, and how to disarm the security system, are handled most effectively by the Welcome Committee. You are also able to relax and enjoy your exchange in the knowledge that your guests are settled in, and a follow up courtesy call after a couple of days will give you further assurance that you’ve selected the right exchange partners.
In these days of mobile communications, it is not difficult for the nominated Welcome Committee and your guests to co-ordinate the time of their arrival, which minimises the time required to fulfill the “Welcome” duties. While it is important that your Concierge Journal has all the necessary written instructions, the personal input of the Welcome Committee is similar in effect to the difference between reading the instructions on how to alter the date on your watch, and having someone show you how simple it really is.
At the conclusion of the Exchange, if the same person is able to act as a Farewell Committee, issues such as collecting back keys, settling payment for international telephone calls (if that is what was agreed), and a quick visual inspection, will eliminate the possibility of unwelcome “surprises” on your homecoming.