What should a new homeowner do in the first 30 days?
A practical first-30-days checklist for new homeowners: what to find, document, and set up before everyday life takes over.
The first 30 days set the tone for everything after
The weeks right after you get the keys are the best time you'll ever have to get your house organized. The previous owners just left, the paperwork is fresh, and you're paying close attention to a place you don't know yet. Six months from now, the warranty paperwork will be in a drawer somewhere and you'll have forgotten which breaker controls the garage.
So the goal of your first month isn't to fix things. It's to learn your house and write down what you learn. A good record now saves you money, time, and a lot of guessing later.
Here's how to spend that window well.
Week 1: Safety and shutoffs
Before anything else, find the things that stop a small problem from becoming a flooded basement or a fire.
Find your main water shutoff
Walk the house and locate the main water shutoff valve — often near where the water line enters, in a basement, crawlspace, or utility area. Make sure you can actually reach it and that it isn't painted shut or buried behind boxes. Note its location and what it looks like.
Find the electrical panel and label it
Locate your main electrical panel and check whether the breakers are labeled. Many are labeled wrong or not at all. Knowing which breaker controls which room is genuinely useful in an emergency. If anything about the panel looks scorched, warm, or improvised, leave it alone and have a licensed electrician take a look.
Find the gas shutoff (if you have gas)
Know where your main gas shutoff is and what tool, if any, it takes to operate. You don't need to touch it now — you just need to know where it is. If you ever smell gas, the move is to leave and call your utility, not to investigate.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Press the test button on every smoke and CO detector. Replace any batteries that are old or missing, and note the age of each unit — detectors expire, usually after about ten years.
Week 1–2: Locks and access
You have no idea how many copies of your keys are floating around — contractors, neighbors, the previous owner's relatives. Have the locks rekeyed or replaced by a locksmith, and change the codes on any smart locks, garage keypads, and alarm systems.
While you're at it, make a list of every way into the house and who currently has access (alarm company, lawn service, anyone with a code). That list is worth keeping current for as long as you own the place.
Week 2: Meet your house's systems
Now walk through the major systems and document what you find. You're not servicing anything — you're building a profile of the house.
HVAC
Note the make, model, and serial number of your furnace, air conditioner, and any heat pumps or mini-splits. Find the air filter and note its size and location. Knowing the filter size alone saves a frustrating trip to the store. If you don't know when the system was last serviced, schedule a checkup with an HVAC technician.
Water heater
Record the type (tank or tankless), capacity, fuel source, and the manufacture date, which is usually decoded from the serial number. Water heaters have a typical lifespan, so knowing the age tells you roughly how much runway you have.
Appliances
Write down the model and serial numbers of the major appliances — fridge, range, dishwasher, washer, dryer. You'll want these for ordering parts, registering warranties, and looking up manuals.
Week 2–3: Gather the paper trail
The closing folder you got is just the start. Pull together everything you can find about the house and keep it in one place.
- Closing documents, deed, and the title
- The home inspection report (re-read it — it's a to-do list in disguise)
- Any warranties on the roof, appliances, windows, or systems
- Permits and records of past renovations
- Manuals for appliances and equipment
- Survey or plot plan showing property lines
- Contact info for any contractors the sellers used
If the previous owners left manuals or service records, treat those as gold. They tell you who has worked on the house and what's been done.
This is exactly the kind of thing a home record is built for — keeping the documents, model numbers, warranties, and service history together so they're not scattered across drawers and email. Jack's View gives you one place to store all of it, attached to the equipment and rooms they belong to.
Week 3: Set up your services
Make sure the practical stuff is in your name and on a schedule:
- Transfer or set up electric, gas, water, internet, and trash service
- Update your address with the post office, employer, bank, and DMV
- Confirm your homeowner's insurance is active and you understand what it covers
- Find out your trash and recycling pickup days and any local rules
Write down account numbers and customer service contacts as you go. You'll reference them more than you'd expect.
Week 4: Build your maintenance calendar
By now you know your house well enough to plan ahead. The point isn't to do everything yourself — it's to know what needs attention and when, so nothing sneaks up on you.
Think in terms of seasons: filters and detectors get checked on a regular cycle; gutters, the HVAC system, and the water heater get looked at on their own schedules. Note which tasks you're comfortable handling and which ones call for a professional. Anything involving electrical, gas, the roof, structural elements, or water under pressure is usually a pro's job — the cost of a mistake is high.
Keep a running list of contractors as you find good ones. The plumber who comes through in a pinch is worth far more once you have their name saved.
A note on what to fix first
Resist the urge to dive into projects. Spend the first month watching and recording — how the house heats, where water pools after rain, which doors stick when it's humid. Patterns reveal themselves quickly, and they'll tell you where your money is best spent. The homeowners who stay calm are usually the ones who took good notes early.
The short version
- Week 1: Find shutoffs, label the panel, test detectors.
- Week 1–2: Rekey locks, change access codes.
- Week 2: Document HVAC, water heater, and appliances.
- Week 2–3: Collect every document and warranty in one place.
- Week 3: Transfer utilities, update your address, confirm insurance.
- Week 4: Build a maintenance calendar and start a contractor list.
Do this in your first month and you'll spend the rest of your time as an owner managing your house instead of being surprised by it.
More in Home care
- What Maintenance Keeps My Appliance and Home Warranties Valid? Learn what routine care and records keep your appliance and home warranties valid — and why documentation is your best defense against a denied claim.
- How Often Should I Change HVAC Filters, Clean Gutters, and Flush the Water Heater? Simple timelines for changing HVAC filters, cleaning gutters, and flushing your water heater — plus what to record and when to call a pro.
- What Should Be on a Seasonal Home Maintenance Checklist? A season-by-season guide to what to check around your home, why it matters, and what to keep a record of throughout the year.
- How do I find and vet a trustworthy home professional? A practical guide to finding, checking, and choosing a reliable contractor or tradesperson — and what to keep on record once you do.
- Where should I keep my appliance manuals and home warranties? A simple way to gather, organize, and store your appliance manuals and home warranties so the right document is there when you need it.
- What should I document after a home renovation or repair? A simple guide to the paperwork, photos, and details worth saving after any home renovation or repair — so the work pays off for years.
Common questions
- What's the single most important thing to do when you move into a new house?
Find and confirm you can reach your main water shutoff and electrical panel. Being able to cut the water or power quickly is what keeps a small failure from becoming major damage. Right after that, rekey the locks since you can't know how many copies of the old keys exist.
- Should I rekey or replace the locks on a house I just bought?
Yes. You have no way of knowing who still has working keys — past contractors, neighbors, relatives. Rekeying is usually cheaper than replacing the hardware and accomplishes the same goal. Also reset codes on smart locks, garage keypads, and alarm systems.
- What documents should a new homeowner keep?
Keep your closing papers, deed, title, home inspection report, any warranties, permits and renovation records, appliance and equipment manuals, the property survey, and contact info for past contractors. Storing them in one organized place — rather than scattered drawers — saves real time when something breaks or you sell.
- How do I know how old my furnace or water heater is?
The manufacture date is usually encoded in the serial number on the unit's label, and many manufacturers publish how to read it. Knowing the age helps you estimate remaining lifespan and budget for replacement. If you can't decode it or have concerns, an HVAC or plumbing professional can tell you during a service visit.
Keep a record your home deserves.
Jack's View is the home management system that remembers so you don't have to. Maintenance, documents, projects, equipment — one place. Built by a homeowner, named for a craftsman.
Start with Jack's View