The day I handed over the keys to a new homeowner in Tacoma, she asked me something I’ve never forgotten: “So what do I actually need to do to make this place safe?” She wasn’t asking about alarm systems or camera brands. She wanted a real answer from someone who’d seen what happens when people skip the basics.
After 12 years installing and consulting on residential security across the Pacific Northwest, I’ve watched the same oversights repeat. New homeowners get excited about Ring cameras and SimpliSafe subscriptions — and completely forget to change the deadbolt on their front door. This checklist fixes that.
Go through this in order. The first few items cost almost nothing and matter more than any gadget you’ll buy.
Step 1: Rekey or Replace Every Lock Before You Sleep There
This is non-negotiable. The previous owners may have given you all their keys — but they didn’t hand over every copy they ever made. The one on the neighbor’s hook. The one the dog walker had in 2019. The spare buried in a junk drawer they forgot about. You have no idea how many copies exist.
Rekeying is cheap. A locksmith will rekey your deadbolts for $15–30 per lock, most will come to you, and the full job usually runs under $100. If your locks are old or cheap-feeling, replace them. A Schlage B60N deadbolt is about $45 at Home Depot and it’s a genuine step up from whatever builder-grade hardware the previous owners installed.
Check every exterior door: front, back, side entries, and especially the door from the garage into the house. That garage door is often the weakest point in the whole building, and it’s the one people forget.
Door frames matter too. Strike plates with 3-inch screws anchor into the wall stud instead of just the door frame — a quick upgrade most locksmiths skip mentioning but that I always do on my own jobs.
Step 2: Walk Every Window Like You’re Trying to Break In
The latches on most residential windows are decorative. They’ll stop the window from blowing open in a storm. They won’t stop someone who wants in.
For double-hung windows, the old-school fix still works: drill a downward-angled hole through the inner sash into the outer sash and drop in a nail or a window pin. It costs nothing, takes five minutes per window, and makes the window functionally impossible to open from outside. You can still open it yourself by pulling the pin out.
Sliding windows and doors need a bar or a track block. A piece of cut-down wooden dowel in the track does the job. Not elegant. Effective.
Ground-floor windows hidden by landscaping are your highest risk. A hedge that’s beautiful for curb appeal is also a hiding spot. Either trim it back or add window sensors to your security system.
Step 3: Fix Your Exterior Lighting
Most residential burglaries happen between 10am and 3pm — when people are at work. But evening lighting still matters, and it’s your cheapest deterrent against the break-ins that do happen after dark.
Motion-activated lights at every entry point. Not just the front door — include the side yard, back door, and garage. I’ve walked the perimeter of hundreds of homes, and the number of dark corners where someone could stand for five minutes without being noticed is alarming.
Solar motion lights like BAXIA or Mr. Beams run $20–40 per unit and can be installed in 10 minutes with no wiring. If you want something harder to defeat and more reliable long-term, hardwired Defiant fixtures from Home Depot are around $30 and connect to your existing outdoor electrical.
Walk your property at 10pm and note every dark area. Those are the spots to address first.
Step 4: Decide on a Security System — But Don’t Overthink It
Here’s where I’ll save you two hours of comparison paralysis: most new homeowners don’t need a full professional monitoring setup. They need a loud alarm, door and window sensors, and a camera at the front door. That’s the core.
If you want professional monitoring, SimpliSafe is the most straightforward option for new homeowners. Their self-install is genuinely self-install — I’ve set it up for clients in their 70s who’d never touched a smart device. Monthly monitoring starts at $18. No contracts. You own the hardware.
Ring Alarm is the right call if you’re already in the Amazon ecosystem. The Alexa integration is seamless and the hardware is affordable. The Ring vs SimpliSafe decision usually comes down to ecosystem preference rather than a real security difference.
If you’d rather skip the monthly fee entirely, there are capable systems with no subscription required. Local alerts only — no professional dispatch, but zero recurring cost.
Step 5: Get a Video Doorbell
Package theft is the fastest-growing residential property crime. A doorbell camera doesn’t stop it, but it documents it — and the visible presence of a camera deters the casual opportunist.
The Ring Video Doorbell Wired ($65) is the best entry point if you have existing doorbell wiring. The Eufy Video Doorbell 2K ($100) is the pick if you want local storage with no subscription fee and don’t want to pay Ring’s $4/month for video history.
Install it at eye level — 4 to 5 feet off the ground, not the 7-foot height most people default to. At 7 feet, you get a shot of the top of everyone’s head. At eye level, you get a face.
Step 6: Secure the Garage
The garage is the most consistently overlooked entry point. People spend money on front-door cameras and completely ignore the garage door, which often has no secondary lock and connects directly into the living space.
A few things to do right away:
- Cover garage door window panes with frosted film if they give a view of your car or the opener button
- Add a garage door defender bar as a secondary lock when you’re away for extended periods
- Lock the interior garage-to-house door with a deadbolt, not just a handle lock
- Zip-tie the emergency release cord so it can’t be triggered by a wire coat hanger through the top of the door — this is a real technique burglars use
Step 7: Make Your Home Look Lived-In When You Travel
An empty house is an inviting house. Mail piling up, dark windows every night, no visible movement — these are signals.
Smart plugs with schedules (Kasa EP25s are under $20 each) are one of the best cheap security investments a new homeowner can make. Set two or three interior lights to turn on and off at different times each evening. It looks lived-in to anyone watching from outside.
Before any trip: stop your mail, ask a neighbor to park in your driveway once or twice, and set those smart plug schedules. Don’t post travel photos until you’re back.
The Step Most New Homeowners Skip
Meet your neighbors. Specifically the ones on either side of you and directly across the street.
This isn’t feel-good advice — it’s practical. A neighbor who knows your car, your face, and your general schedule will notice when something is off. They’ll call you, or the police, before a situation escalates. No camera does that.
I’ve seen a $3,000 camera setup catch a burglary on video, after the fact, while a neighbor who noticed an unfamiliar van in the driveway called the homeowner in time to stop it entirely. Human awareness beats technology when technology is only recording.
Quick Reference: New Homeowner Security Checklist
| Task | Estimated Cost | When to Do It |
|---|---|---|
| Rekey all exterior locks | $60–100 | Day 1 |
| Add 3-inch strike plates | $10–20 | Day 1 |
| Window pins or bars (ground floor) | Under $20 | Week 1 |
| Motion-activated exterior lights | $60–150 | Week 1 |
| Video doorbell | $65–120 | Week 1–2 |
| Security system | $200–400 + optional monitoring | Month 1 |
| Garage security upgrades | $0–50 | Week 1 |
| Smart plugs for lighting schedules | $40–60 | Month 1 |
| Introduce yourself to neighbors | Free | Week 1 |
Start at the top and work down. The first three items will do more for your actual security than any camera or subscription service. The rest layers on top.
The most common mistake new homeowners make: spending money on visibility — cameras, signs, smart locks — before securing the fundamentals. A Ring camera on the porch doesn’t help much if the deadbolt is original from 1987 and anyone who’s ever lived there still has a key.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon after moving in should I change the locks?
Same day, before you sleep there. This is not a week-one task — it is a day-one task. A locksmith can often come same-day, and if they cannot, a $45 deadbolt from a hardware store buys you security while you wait for the appointment.
Is a video doorbell enough for a new homeowner?
No. A video doorbell is a good layer but it does not replace rekeying, window security, or exterior lighting. Start with the physical fundamentals on this checklist before adding connected devices.
What is the single most important security upgrade for a new home?
Rekeying or replacing every exterior lock. It costs under $100, takes a few hours, and immediately eliminates the risk from every key copy that ever existed for that property. Everything else on this list builds from there.