Things to Do After Buying a House: The Complete First-Week List
Closed on your home? Here's the prioritized list of what to do the first week — security, shutoffs, safety, and the small tasks that prevent expensive surprises. No overwhelm.
You have the keys. The closing papers are signed, the truck is unloaded, and somewhere between the boxes a to-do list is forming that feels like it has no bottom. Take a breath — your first week needs only a handful of things, almost none of them cost real money, and the rest can genuinely wait. This is the prioritized, do-this-first list, ordered so the things that protect your safety and your wallet come before the things that protect your paint color.
Do these three first
Before you hang a single picture, handle the three jobs that control who gets in, how you stop a disaster, and whether your safety equipment actually works.
1. Rekey or change every exterior lock
You have no idea how many copies of the old keys exist. The previous owners, their agents, contractors, cleaners, dog walkers, and the neighbor who watered the plants may each have one. Reset that on day one, before you sleep in the house.
You have two paths:
| Option | What it is | Typical cost | When to choose it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rekey | A locksmith resets the lock's internal pins so old keys no longer work | ~$15–30 per lock + service call (≈ $50–180 total) | Existing locks are in good shape — cheapest, just as secure |
| Replace | Swap in brand-new hardware | ~$40–300+ per door | A lock is worn, mismatched, or you want a smart/keypad lock |
Rekeying is the value choice for most homes. Replace only when a lock is failing or you want to upgrade. Either way, don't forget the garage entry door, side gates, and any padlocks — people always remember the front door and forget the rest.
2. Locate and test your three main shutoffs
In a flood, leak, or gas scare, seconds matter and you won't have time to learn the house. Find all three now:
- Main water shutoff. Usually where the supply line enters — basement, crawl space, a utility closet, or near the water heater. Turn it to confirm it actually works, then leave it on. This one valve stops a burst-pipe flood. Our guide on how to shut off the water to your house walks through the valve types.
- Gas shutoff (if you have gas). At the meter, you'll need a wrench — keep one nearby. Learn the quarter-turn that closes it.
- Main electrical breaker. The big switch at the top of your electrical panel that kills power to the whole house.
Make sure everyone living there knows where all three are. This is the single highest-leverage 20 minutes you'll spend all week. While you're at it, keep the home emergency playbook handy so the whole household knows what to do if something actually goes wrong.
Tip: do the messy jobs before the furniture arrives. The window between closing and moving in is the easiest time to rekey locks, change filters, deep-clean, paint, and treat for pests — there's nothing to work around. If you can, knock out the dusty and disruptive tasks while the house is empty.
3. Test every smoke and carbon-monoxide alarm
Press the test button on every unit. Replace any that fail, chirp, or are missing — and replace any smoke alarm over 10 years old outright, because the sensor degrades whether the battery is fresh or not. Make sure there's a CO alarm near every sleeping area if you have any fuel-burning appliances, a fireplace, or an attached garage. Full walkthrough: how to test your smoke and CO alarms.
The rest of week one
With security and safety handled, knock out the quick, cheap tasks that head off the most common expensive surprises.
| Task | How often | DIY cost | Pro cost | Prevents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rekey all exterior locks | Once, on move-in | $15–60 (kit) | $50–180 | Unknown keyholders; a break-in with no forced entry |
| Test & date all smoke/CO alarms | Once, then monthly | $0–60 | — | The worst-case scenario; a dead or expired alarm |
| Replace the HVAC filter | Every 1–3 months | $10–25 | — | Strained system, high bills, early failure |
| Check under every sink & appliance | Once, then seasonally | $0 | — | Slow leaks that rot cabinets and grow mold |
| Set water heater to 120°F | Once | $0 | — | Scald injuries and wasted standby energy |
| Replace old rubber supply lines | Once | $10–25 each | $80–150 | A burst hose — one of the most common flood claims |
A few of these deserve a closer look:
- Change the HVAC filter. You genuinely don't know when it was last done, and a clogged filter strains the most expensive system in your house. Start fresh — here's how to change a furnace filter.
- Set the water heater to 120°F. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that water heating is about 18% of a home's energy use — typically the second-largest energy expense — and that turning the thermostat down saves money. 120°F is also the standard anti-scald setting. Many previous owners leave it cranked higher.
- Test the GFCI outlets in kitchens, bathrooms, the garage, and outdoors. Press test then reset — a GFCI that won't trip isn't protecting you.
- Walk the dryer vent. Lint buildup is a leading cause of house fires and it's almost certainly overdue in a home you just inherited.
Handle the paperwork and logistics
Safety protects the house; this protects your money and your mail. None of it is glamorous, but a lapsed insurance policy or a missed utility transfer on move-in day turns into a real headache fast. Knock these out in the first week:
- Start or transfer every utility so nothing lapses: electricity, gas, water and sewer, trash and recycling, and internet. Call a few days ahead — some require a technician visit.
- Confirm homeowners insurance is active as of your closing date, and that the coverage actually matches your rebuild cost. This is also the moment to start the home inventory that backs up any future claim.
- File your change of address with USPS, then update your driver's license/DMV, employer, bank and cards, and subscriptions.
- Sort out property tax and escrow. Confirm how your taxes are paid (directly or through mortgage escrow), and check whether your state or county offers a homestead exemption — it can meaningfully lower your annual property-tax bill, and many new owners never claim it.
- Store your closing documents safely. The deed, title insurance, disclosure, and inspection report are worth keeping in one place — they answer questions about your home for years.
What can wait (and why that's okay)
The hardest part of moving in is resisting the urge to do everything at once. These genuinely belong in month two or later: interior painting, landscaping, non-urgent cosmetic fixes, furniture, and "someday" renovations. None of them protects your safety or prevents a costly failure, so they don't compete with the list above. Giving yourself permission to defer them is how you avoid burning out in week one.
Your first month: get to know your home
Once the triage is done, the first month is about understanding what you bought and building a system so nothing slips. This is where calm, organized owners pull away from overwhelmed ones.
| When | Focus | The jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Security & safety | Rekey locks · test shutoffs · test alarms · change filter · leak check |
| Weeks 2–3 | Know your systems | Home inventory · model & serial numbers · find manuals · deeper walk-through |
| Week 4 | Build the system | Turn it into a month-by-month schedule with reminders |
- Build a home inventory. Photograph or video each room and capture model and serial numbers for your appliances, furnace, AC, and water heater. You'll want these for warranties, parts, and any future insurance claim — and the worst time to assemble it is after a loss.
- Find the manuals and warranties. Gather what the previous owner left and download PDFs for anything missing. A home maintenance binder (digital or paper) keeps paint colors, model numbers, and service records in one place.
- Do a deeper systems walk. Note the age and type of the roof, water heater, and HVAC. Check how the ground slopes around the foundation, where the gutters drain, and whether any supply lines are old rubber that should be swapped for braided steel.
- Budget for reality. The large majority of first-time owners hit an unexpected repair in year one — often a deferred problem the previous owner left behind. Save roughly 1% of the home's value per year and keep a separate emergency cushion so a surprise is an annoyance, not a crisis. For the actual numbers, see what new homeowners spend on repairs the first year.
Turn the list into a plan that runs itself
A checklist tells you what to do today. The thing that actually keeps a house in good shape is a recurring schedule — filter changes, seasonal gutter cleaning, the annual water-heater flush, alarm tests — that comes back to you at the right time instead of living in your memory.
That's exactly what Owner Tools does. Answer a few questions about your specific home and you get a calm, month-by-month plan sorted into what's critical, what saves money, and what can wait — only for the systems you actually have. No address, no account, no spam.
From here, keep going with your first 30 days in a new house, the deeper first-time homeowner maintenance guide, and — if you haven't yet — the home inspection checklist to turn your inspector's notes into a maintenance plan. Closing on your first place specifically? Start with just bought your first house. Prefer a tick-box format? Use the first-time homeowner checklist. And to understand the real numbers, see home maintenance costs.