Closing day comes with a folder of documents and a handful of keys. What it does not come with is a list of everyone else who has a key, because no such list exists.
Here is the order worth doing things in during the first week.
1. Count the doors, not the keys
Walk the property and count every lock: front, back, side, garage entry, patio slider, gates, shed, and any outbuilding. Most people are surprised by the total. That list is what you are actually securing.
2. Rekey everything on the same visit
Rekeying every exterior lock at once is cheaper per lock than doing it piecemeal, and it is the moment to get them all onto one key if the hardware allows. One key for the whole house is a small daily improvement you will notice for years.
3. Deal with the garage
The garage-entry door is the most used and least maintained lock in most houses, and a garage that opens with a code someone else set is not secured. Rekey the door and reset the opener code and any keypad on the outside of the garage.
4. Check what is missing rather than what is there
Look for exterior doors with a knob lock and no deadbolt, sliders with no secondary lock, and strike plates held on by half-inch screws. Those are cheap fixes at the same visit and they matter more than upgrading a lock that is already fine.
- Deadbolt on every exterior door.
- Long screws into the frame stud on strike plates.
- A secondary block or lock on patio sliders.
- Gate and shed locks included in the rekey.
5. Then think about convenience
Once the basics are sound, keypads and smart locks are worth considering — especially with kids, dog walkers, or regular guests. Do it in that order, though. A smart lock on a door with a weak strike plate is a better app, not a safer house.
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