Congratualtions !
You just closed on your new home. It's yours! Now that you have signed the papers, received the keys and are ready to move, you may be feel excited and overwhelemed with good stress. So here are a few tips once you are ready to get settled.
Change the locks.
You've closed escrow and the keys to your new home are yours. The first thing you should do is change the locks. It's hard to say who may have access to your home. Anyone from real estate agents to the sellers or maintenance people: all could still have a set of keys to your home. If the door has glass on it, be sure you install a deadbolt that uses a key to unlock from both sides. If someone is breaking into your house and there is glass on the door, it can be shattered and the intruder can just reach through the broken glass and turn the deadbolt. Instead use a key deadbolt and keep an extra key near the door but out of reach and out of sight from the outside.
Paint and make change while the home is empty.
Go ahead and knock off your to-do list now, get any maintenance needs and painting the rooms before you start bringing in your furniture. Different rooms may call for different needs or paint so this is the best time to prepare and get it done.
Whole-House cleaning.
Give the entire house a good top-to-bottom cleaning. It's a great way to start a new life in a fresh, clean home. Plus it's a lot easier to clean everything when nothing is inside to be moved around.
This is also a good time to make sure things like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are all functioning properly. Change the batteries on them so that you can track the need for new batteries with the anniversary of the home purchase.
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