Just Closed on a Houston House? Do These Three Things Before You Unpack

Closing day is a blur of signatures, wire transfers, and someone finally handing you a set of keys. Here's the thing about that set of keys: it's not the only one.

We do a lot of move-in work across Houston, and the stories are consistent. Sellers forget which relatives have copies. Builders hand spares to a dozen subcontractors. Previous owners hid one under the flowerpot in 2021 and it's still there. None of these people are burglars — but your home security shouldn't depend on the memory and goodwill of strangers.

Three things, ideally in your first week:

1. Rekey everything with a keyhole

Not replace — rekey (unless the hardware's junk, in which case we'll say so). Every exterior door, the garage side door people always forget, and the door from the garage into the house. Twenty minutes per house side, and every copy floating around Houston becomes brass jewelry.

While we're there, ask about keying alike — one key for every door. Most same-brand locks can do it, and starting fresh in a new house is the perfect moment.

2. Find and reset the garage keypad and openers

The garage is the most commonly overlooked entry point in a home handoff. Three items:

• Wall keypad code — previous owners rarely reset it. Takes two minutes with the opener's manual (usually a "Learn" button on the motor unit).
• Remotes — the sellers gave you two. How many exist? Clearing the opener's memory and re-pairing only your remotes answers that question permanently.
• The emergency release cord — this is a Houston-specific note. After hurricanes, when power's out, that red cord is how you open the door manually. Know where it is before a storm; also know that a coat hanger through the top of the door can pull it from outside on some models. A cheap release shield closes that gap.

3. Take inventory of what you actually have on the doors

Walk the house and look at each lock like a stranger would. Deadbolts on every exterior door, or just knob locks? (Knob locks alone are not security — the latch yields to a shim.) Does the back door bolt actually throw fully into the frame, or hit the strike plate halfway? Are the strike plate screws the 3/4-inch ones from the factory, or 3-inch screws that reach the stud?

That last one costs almost nothing and matters more than most upgrades: doors don't get picked in real burglaries, they get kicked, and 3-inch screws in a reinforced strike are what stands up to a kick.

The move-in visit, bundled

We do all of the above as one visit — rekey, key-alike, strike reinforcement, garage check — and quote it as one number before we come out. New-house money is stretched thin; this is the part of the budget that guards all the rest of it.

Welcome to the neighborhood. Now change the pins.