The New Home Lock Security Checklist

What should you do about the locks when you move into a home? Rekey every exterior lock, reset every keypad and smart lock code, and clear the garage door opener's remote memory, ideally in your first week. You cannot know how many keys the previous owners handed out over the years, and rekeying makes every one of those copies useless in a single visit.

This checklist walks through the doors people forget, the codes people miss, and the cheap hardware upgrades worth doing while everything is already being touched. It applies whether you bought the place or just signed a lease, though renters should get the landlord's sign-off first.

Rekey Everything First, Replace Only What Is Worn

Rekeying changes your locks to work with a new key without replacing the hardware. Same lock, new key, old keys stop working immediately. For a move-in, that is usually all you need, because the goal is controlling who has access, not buying new metal.

Walk the house and check each lock before deciding. Keys should slide in smoothly and turn without jiggling, and each deadbolt should throw fully with the door closed. Locks that pass get rekeyed. Locks that stick, wobble, or show rust get replaced. If you are unsure where that line sits, our rekey or replace guide breaks it down.

Count the Keys You Cannot Account For

Think about who could be holding a working key right now:

• The sellers, and every family member they ever copied a key for
• Real estate agents and anyone who used the lockbox during the listing
• House cleaners, dog walkers, and babysitters from years past
• Contractors from every remodel the house has ever had
• A neighbor holding a spare from a previous decade

None of those people are likely a threat. That is not the point. The point is that you cannot name them all, and a lock is only as good as your key list. Rekeying resets that list to zero.

Garage and Side Doors Are the Weak Points

The front door gets all the attention, but the garage is the more common gap:

• Clear the opener's memory. Most garage openers made since the mid 1990s have a learn button that erases all paired remotes. Press it, then re-pair only your own remotes. Older openers use small code switches inside the motor unit instead, and those are worth resetting or upgrading. Otherwise a remote sitting in a previous owner's glovebox still opens your garage.
• Reset the outdoor keypad code if one is mounted beside the garage door.
• Rekey the garage service door. The side door into the garage is often the oldest, cheapest lock on the property.
• Put a real deadbolt on the door from the garage into the house. Once someone is inside the garage, that door is all that is left, and builders often fit it with a plain knob lock.

Smart Locks, Keypads, and Old Codes

If the house came with a smart lock or keypad deadbolt, treat it as wide open until proven otherwise. Factory reset it. Do not just add your code alongside the old ones. A reset wipes every stored user code, then you set a fresh master code and re-add users from scratch.

If the lock connects to an app, the previous owner's account may still control it. A reset breaks that link on many models, but some brands keep the lock tied to the old account until the previous owner deletes it in their app, so ask the seller to remove it too. Check for a backup keyway too. Many smart locks still have a key cylinder, and that cylinder needs rekeying like any other lock, because the old physical key bypasses every code you set.

Sliders, Windows, and the Doors Without Keys

Not every entry point has a keyway. Sliding glass doors have latches that wear out, and a worn slider can often be lifted or jimmied with little effort. Check that the latch pulls the door tight, and add a security bar or a pin lock in the track for cheap peace of mind.

Ground-floor windows should have working latches, and anything painted shut, cracked, or broken goes on the fix list. Walk the exterior once at night. You will spot the dark corners, the hidden side doors, and the weak points faster than you ever will in daylight.

Make a Spare Key Plan Before You Need One

Lockouts happen most in the first months, before the new keys are on everyone's ring and habit takes over. Decide now:

• Give a spare to one trusted person nearby, not under the doormat or in a fake rock. Those hiding spots are the first place anyone looks.
• If you want an on-site spare, use a wall-mounted lockbox with a code you set, mounted where it cannot be seen from the street.
• Have the locks keyed alike during the rekey so one key runs the whole house. Fewer keys means fewer lost keys.

The Mailbox and Everything Else

The previous owner's mailbox key almost never gets handed over, and mail is where identity theft starts. If your mailbox has a lock, replace it. If your mail goes to a cluster box, ask the post office or your HOA who owns the box, since responsibility for lock changes depends on the answer. Our mailbox lock guide covers the details.

While you are in checklist mode, reset any gate codes and alarm codes the sellers used, change the WiFi password if equipment stayed, and round up keys for sheds, side gates, and interior doors so you know what exists.

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