Your First 30 Days in a New Home

Week 1: Safety & security

1. Change every exterior lock or rekey them. You have no idea how many keys are floating around from previous owners, contractors, real-estate agents, and dog-walkers. Rekeying is ~$20/lock at a locksmith; new smart locks are $150–$250 each.
2. Find and label the main water shutoff. It's usually in the basement, garage, or a utility closet on the wall facing the street. Tag it. If a pipe ever bursts at 2am you will not want to be hunting for this.
3. Find the main electrical panel and confirm every breaker is labeled. If they're not, walk through with someone flipping breakers and label each one as you go.
4. Find the gas shutoff (if applicable) and confirm you have a wrench nearby that fits it.
5. Test every smoke and CO detector. Replace batteries in all of them on day one. Replace any unit older than 10 years (date is printed on the back).

Week 2: Systems baseline

1. Photograph every appliance's nameplate. Make, model, and serial. You'll need them for warranty claims, service calls, and parts. The HomeFiles app does this in seconds with your phone camera.
2. Locate every HVAC filter slot and replace the filters with fresh ones, regardless of what looks installed.
3. Test the GFCI outlets in bathrooms, kitchen, garage, and outdoors. Press TEST — it should click off. Press RESET. If it doesn't reset, replace it.
4. Walk the perimeter and look at the roof from the ground with binoculars. Note any missing shingles, sagging gutters, or trees touching the house — they're the next year's problems if not addressed.

Week 3–4: Set up the long game

1. Build an inventory. Photograph everything of value, room by room. If the house ever burns down or floods, your insurance claim will be 10x easier with a documented inventory.
2. Locate (or order) all warranties and manuals. Major appliances usually have 1-year manufacturer warranties; HVAC, water heater, and roof may have longer ones. File them somewhere you'll actually find them in 5 years.
3. Schedule the first round of preventive maintenance. At minimum: HVAC tune-up before the next extreme season, dryer vent cleaning, water heater flush. These three alone prevent the most common expensive failures.

What new homeowners forget

• Updating your address everywhere (DMV, banks, employer, subscriptions). Set aside an evening.
• Filing for homestead exemption (in states that offer it — can save hundreds on property tax).
• Setting up a maintenance reminder system before life gets busy. The whole point of a system is that it works when you're not thinking about it.