Just Got the Keys? Your First 30 Days as a New Homeowner
- Josh Standeven
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Buying a home in the spring is exciting — but once the closing paperwork is signed, most new homeowners stare at their front door wondering: now what?
The first 30 days in your new home are more important than most people realize. The decisions you make right now — what you document, what you inspect, what you set up — will either save you thousands of dollars down the road or cost you them. Here's a practical, week-by-week roadmap to help you start your homeownership journey on the right foot.
Week 1: Safety First, Always
Before you unpack a single box, run through the non-negotiables.
Change every lock. You don't know how many copies of your keys are floating around from previous owners, contractors, or real estate agents. Rekeying your home is inexpensive and gives you real peace of mind.
Locate your shutoffs. Know exactly where your main water shutoff valve, electrical panel, and gas shutoff are. A burst pipe at 2 AM is not the time to be hunting for the valve.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Replace batteries in all of them. If any detectors are older than 10 years, replace the units entirely.
Document your home's condition on day one. Walk through every room and photograph or video everything — walls, ceilings, appliances, the HVAC system, the water heater. This becomes your baseline. Apps like DwellPulse make this easy by letting you log appliances, track their age, and set future maintenance reminders right from the start.
Week 2: Know What You Own
Most new homeowners inherit a home full of appliances and systems they know nothing about. This week is about getting acquainted.
Record every appliance's make, model, and age. Your refrigerator, dishwasher, HVAC, water heater, and washer/dryer all have a lifespan — and knowing where each one sits in that lifespan helps you budget for replacements before they become emergencies.
Gather warranty documents and manuals. Check inside appliances, look through paperwork from closing, or search the model numbers online. DwellPulse's home management system lets you store all of this in one place, so you're never digging through a junk drawer when something breaks.
Inspect your HVAC filter. Spring is prime HVAC season. If the filter hasn't been changed recently, do it now — a clogged filter strains the system and spikes your energy bill immediately.
Week 3: Spring-Specific Exterior Check
If you're closing on a home this spring, your first season of ownership comes with a specific set of tasks that are easy to miss when you're caught up in the excitement of moving in.
Check the roof and gutters. Winter can leave behind loose shingles, cracked flashing, or gutters pulling away from the fascia. Walk the perimeter and look up. If anything looks questionable, schedule an inspection before summer storms arrive.
Inspect the grading around your foundation. The ground should slope away from your home. If soil or mulch is pushing against the foundation, it can lead to water intrusion and serious damage over time.
Look for signs of winter pest damage. Mice, squirrels, and other critters love finding a warm home in winter. Check the attic, basement, and any crawl spaces for nesting material or droppings.
Flush your outdoor hose bibs. Turn them on slowly to check for pipe damage from winter freezing — a small drip inside the wall can go undetected for months.
Week 4: Build Your System
The biggest mistake new homeowners make is treating home maintenance as something they'll "deal with when it comes up." The homeowners who protect their investment are the ones who treat maintenance like a schedule, not a surprise.
Set up a home management system. This is the week to get organized. Whether you use a spreadsheet or a dedicated app, you need somewhere to log what you have, what's been serviced, and what's coming up. DwellPulse was built specifically for this — it tracks your projects, appliances, maintenance tasks, and even gives you expense forecasts so you can plan for big-ticket replacements before they blindside you.
Schedule your first seasonal maintenance tasks. Based on when your HVAC was last serviced, your roof last inspected, and your water heater's age, block out the next few months of tasks on your calendar. Proactive homeowners save an estimated $750–$2,500 per year compared to those who wait for problems to appear.
Create a home file. Gather your closing documents, inspection report, warranty deeds, appliance manuals, and any records from the previous owner in one place — physical or digital. When you sell this home someday, a well-documented history of care and improvements adds real value and buyer confidence.
The Bottom Line
The spring home buying season is one of the most active in real estate, and tens of thousands of new homeowners will get their keys in the coming weeks. The ones who thrive aren't the ones who spent the most — they're the ones who stayed organized, stayed proactive, and treated their home like the investment it is.
You've done the hard part. Now let's make sure your first 30 days set you up for the next 30 years.
*Writing assisted with AI
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