Three Things Home Buyers Should do to Secure Their New Home

You’ve purchased and closed your dream home but how do you know that former owners or tenants won’t come walking in unannounced (this actually happened to someone I know). Here are 3 things you everyone should do as soon as they take possession of their new home to help secure it.

1. Either get new locks on all external doors or have them re-keyed. Even if the previous owners have left the country, you never know who they had given a spare key to – a neighbour, cleaner, contractor, friends, kids, etc. There are services available such as “Pop-A –Lock” who can re-key your locks quickly and inexpensively or you can opt for new locksets available at home improvement stores.

2. Re-program your garage door opener. While the sellers may have left you their remote controls, remember that most newer cars have Homelink that programs your door codes directly into the car’s memory. Also many people give out their key-pad code to trades-people, cleaners and teenage kids, who may give it out to friends….

Re-programming remotes and key-pads is easy, just GOOGLE the brand name and there are usually YouTube videos available with step-by-step instructions.

3. Reprogram your alarm system. If your home is equipped with an alarm system make sure you reprogram the codes. Its usually very straight forward.