The honest starting point: you do not know who has a key
At closing, the seller hands you keys and remotes. It feels like the end of a long process, and it is easy to believe that the set you hold is the complete set. It almost never is. Over the years, a home collects copies: one for a relative, one for a cleaner, one for a contractor who did a kitchen remodel, one for a neighbor who fed the cat. Previous tenants may have kept a copy. Agents have used lockboxes. A metal key leaves no record of who has copied it.
This is not a criticism of the seller, who may have been careful. It is a plain fact about how keys work. The only way to know who can open your door is to change which keys fit the lock. Everything else in this guide follows from that.
The good news is that a first-week plan is short. Most of it can be done in a single visit, and the steps are the same whether you bought a condo near the Intracoastal, a townhome in a gated community, or a single-family home in West Boca. Only the details change.
Priority one: exterior door locks
Start with the doors that lead outside. These are the front door, the back or patio door, the garage entry door, and any side door. Each has a lock, and many have a deadbolt as well as a handle set. The goal is to ensure that only keys you hold will work.
You have two routes. Rekeying changes the internal pins of each lock, so that old keys stop working and a new key operates them all. It keeps your existing hardware, takes little time, and is the usual choice when the locks are in decent condition. Replacement swaps the hardware for new units, which makes sense when locks are worn, damaged, a style you dislike, or a lower grade than you want. Our guide to rekey versus replace goes through the decision.
Most homeowners choose to rekey every exterior lock to one key and then upgrade a few specific pieces, such as a weak deadbolt or a worn handle set. If you are curious about the work itself, rekeying describes what a technician does on site. For a typical home, it is a single visit.
- Rekey or replace every exterior lock, including the garage entry door.
- Have the technician test the new key on each lock before leaving.
- Ask for one key to fit all exterior doors, unless you prefer separate keys.
- Do not cut spares until the rekey is finished.
Priority two: deadbolt quality and door frame
A good lock in a weak frame is still a weak door. When a technician visits, ask them to look at the strike plate, the screws, and the frame around the deadbolt. Many doors are installed with short screws that grip only the thin trim and not the framing behind it. A longer set of screws and a reinforced strike plate are modest changes that make a door much harder to force open.
Check that the deadbolt extends fully into the frame and that the door closes squarely against it. In humid South Florida, doors swell and shrink through the year, and a deadbolt that lines up in March may drag by August. If you find yourself lifting or pushing a door to make the bolt throw, that is a sign of misalignment, and it should be corrected rather than tolerated. Strike plate reinforcement covers this.
Look at the door itself. Hollow-core doors on exterior openings, gaps around the frame, and worn weatherstripping all affect security and energy use. Not every issue needs immediate action, but it is useful to know what you have. Our guide on door frame security describes what matters most.
Priority three: sliding doors and patio access
Sliding glass doors are the most common weak point in homes here, and they are often overlooked during a home inspection. The latch that comes with many sliders is a simple hook that engages a catch, and the door can sometimes be lifted off its track if the track is worn or there is no secondary stop. Condos with balconies and houses with patios and pool areas all rely on these doors.
A typical first-week improvement is a secondary measure that keeps the door from being lifted or forced sideways, together with a latch that engages firmly. The exact hardware depends on the door's make and condition. Do not try to adjust rollers or springs yourself if the door is heavy or the track is bent, since glass doors are heavy and awkward. Sliding glass door locks explains what a technician typically recommends.
Also check the lock on any French doors, window locks within reach of the ground, and the latches on screened enclosures. A screened lanai is not a security barrier, but the door behind it is the one that matters. Make sure you know which of your doors actually protect the home.
Priority four: garage and openers
The garage is often the main entry for the household. It usually has an overhead door with a powered opener and a remote, a keypad or wall button, and a service door that has its own lock. Each of these is a place where the previous owner's access may linger.
Clear the opener's memory and reprogram only the remotes you hold. The manufacturer's instructions for your model will walk you through it, and a technician can help if the unit is older or the buttons are unclear. If the opener has a wall keypad, change the entry digits. Many keypads are left on a default or on the previous owner's choice, and neighbors or workers may remember it.
Do not try to adjust the springs or cables on the overhead door yourself. Those components hold a lot of tension and can cause serious injury. A garage door company handles that, and we do not. What a locksmith does cover is the entry door between the garage and the house, which should have a proper deadbolt and a solid strike plate, since it is a door that many people forget about. See garage entry door locks.
Priority five: smart locks, keypads, and alarms
If the home has an electronic lock, treat it as a lock you do not yet control. Reset it, set a new master credential, and link it to your own account. If you cannot find the manual or the model is old, replacement is often simpler than guessing. Our comparison of smart lock, keypad, and key helps you decide what suits your household.
An alarm system works the same way. The previous owner's panel may still have their user digits, the monitoring account may still be in their name, and a key fob or remote may still be active. Contact the alarm company, confirm that the account is transferred or closed, and change every user credential. If the home has no alarm and you want one, that is a separate decision that deserves its own research.
A word of caution about connected devices: every new device is another account, another password, and another battery. Choose what you will actually maintain. A simple, well-installed deadbolt with a solid frame is a better foundation than three gadgets that nobody remembers to update.
Priority six: spare keys, done the right way
Once the locks are rekeyed, decide how many spares you need and cut them from the new key. Think in terms of people. Each adult in the household needs one, and perhaps a trusted relative or neighbor should hold a spare as well. Resist the temptation to hide one outside. Spare keys hidden under a mat, in a planter, or in a fake rock are the first places anyone looks, and why hiding a spare key fails explains why.
If you want a spare available for family or guests, consider a lockbox mounted properly, or a keypad lock that allows temporary credentials. Both come with trade-offs, and our lockbox and key safe guide compares them.
Keep a simple record of how many keys exist and who holds them. When one is lost, you will know right away whether it was a spare or the only one, and what to do about it. If a key goes missing and you cannot be sure where, the safe response is to rekey. It is a simple fix compared with a lasting worry.
Priority seven: mailbox, shed, and secondary locks
Mailboxes, sheds, storage cages, and utility closets are easy to forget. They often hold items of real value, from tools to bicycles to important mail. Ask the seller which keys exist and test each one. If a key is missing, you may need a lock replaced. In a community with cluster mailboxes, the postal service or the association handles the lock, and you should ask them rather than try to change it yourself.
Interior locks matter less, but they matter. A bedroom door lock, a home office, or a closet with documents can all be rekeyed or replaced as needed. If you have children or older relatives in the home, think about whether you want lockable interior doors that can be opened from the outside in an emergency. Locked inside a bathroom is a typical case where a simple privacy lock is the right choice.
Finally, check any lock that is a key to the home's utility or outdoor equipment, such as a gate to a side yard, a pool equipment enclosure, or a water shut-off cover. These are simple to secure, and losing control of them can be an annoyance.
Local factors that change the priorities
Where you buy affects what you should focus on. In waterfront and coastal areas, salt air corrodes hardware faster than most people expect, and a lock that looks fine may be on the way to seizing. If you are buying near the water, ask a technician to look at the finish, the cylinder, and the screws. Caring for locks in salt air explains what helps.
In condos and gated communities, some locks belong to the association and some to you. The front door lock may need to match a master key system or an association standard. Ask before you change anything on the entry door, since replacing a lock that the building requires to stay compatible can cause trouble. The condo association key control page explains how this typically works.
In hurricane season, the doors and sliders matter in a second way. Impact-rated openings, storm shutters, and reinforced hardware all play a role in how the home holds up. Before the season starts, check that every lock operates smoothly, because a stiff lock is a poor thing to discover when you are trying to secure a home in a hurry.
What to leave to a professional
Many first-week tasks are simple. Changing a keypad PIN, moving a lockbox, or clearing an opener's memory are things most homeowners can do with the manual. Rekeying, though, involves removing cylinders and working with small, spring-loaded parts, and most people prefer to leave it to someone with the right tools. The risk of a mistake is a lock that does not work, and that is not a good thing to find at midnight.
Leave electrical work to a qualified electrician. If an electronic lock is hardwired, or an opener is wired into the garage ceiling, that is not a locksmith's job. Leave springs and cables on overhead garage doors to a garage door company. Leave anything that involves forcing a lock to a trained technician, and never attempt to bypass a lock you do not own.
Know what a technician should bring with them. A reputable locksmith will ask for proof that you own or live at the property, will tell you the service call charge before dispatch, and will explain the work before starting it. If something feels off, ask more questions. How to spot a trustworthy locksmith sets out what to look for.
A first-week checklist for new owners
Print this and tick the items off. You may not need every one, but the list covers the common places where gaps appear.
- Rekey or replace every exterior lock, including the garage entry door.
- Test the new key on each lock, several times, with the technician present.
- Inspect strike plates, screws, and frames, and reinforce where needed.
- Check sliding doors for secondary stops and a firm latch.
- Clear garage opener memory and change the keypad digits.
- Reset smart locks and keypads, and set a new master credential.
- Transfer or close the alarm account and change user credentials.
- Cut spares from the new key only, and record how many exist.
- Check mailbox, shed, storage, and gate locks, and replace those without keys.
- Register fobs and credentials with the association, if there is one.
When you are ready to call
If you have just closed on a home in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Coral Springs, or elsewhere in Palm Beach and north Broward County, call and tell us what you have: how many exterior doors, what kind of locks, and whether any are electronic. We will explain the options and what the visit involves. Quotes are given by phone, and complicated jobs need an on-site visit first. There is a service call charge, which we explain before anyone is dispatched. Have proof of ownership or residence available, since a technician will ask for it. Call when you are ready and we will help you put the first week in order.
Questions people ask
What is the first lock job I should do after buying a home?
Rekey or replace the exterior locks so that only keys you hold will work. You cannot know who has copies of the old ones. Include the garage entry door and any side doors. Have the technician test the new key on each lock before they leave, then cut spares from that key.
Is rekeying enough, or should I replace the locks?
Rekeying is enough when the hardware is in good condition and you like it. Replace when a lock is worn, damaged, sticky, or a lower grade than you want. Many owners rekey everything and upgrade just one or two pieces. A technician can look at the locks and tell you which category each falls into.
Do I need to change the locks in a condo?
Often yes, but check first. The entry door may need to stay compatible with a master key system or association rules. Ask the office what is allowed before replacing hardware. Rekeying is usually permitted when it keeps the existing lock type. Interior and balcony door locks are typically yours to manage.
What should I do about the garage door opener?
Clear its learned remotes and reprogram only the ones you hold, then change any wall keypad digits. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for your model. Leave springs and cables on the overhead door to a garage door company, since they hold dangerous tension. A locksmith can handle the entry door between garage and house.
How many spare keys should I make?
Think in terms of people. One for each adult in the household, and perhaps one for a trusted relative or neighbor. Avoid hiding a key outside, since those places are easy to find. Cut spares only after the rekey is finished, and keep a written count of how many exist.
Will a locksmith ask for proof that I own the home?
Yes, and that is a good sign. Changing locks for the wrong person can cause real harm, so a responsible technician checks. Closing paperwork, a lease, a utility bill, or a government ID matching the address are typical. Have them ready when you call to keep the visit quick.
Describe the situation by phone and we will tell you what the job involves. Quotes are given by phone. Jobs that cannot be quoted without seeing them need a technician on site, and the service call charge is explained on the phone before anyone is dispatched.
(954) 906-9567