Congratulations on your new home! Whether it is your first residence, or you’ve recently moved to a new neighborhood, you should feel safe wherever you leave. Part of that means that you need to make your new place more secure. Before we start giving advice you can always reach out to ASAP Locksmith at (818) 927-2097 anytime and here is some additional advice.

Replace the Locks

Changing the locks is always a good place to start, especially if you are living in a rental property. Even though the landlord or management company is supposed to switch out the existing locks for old ones, you can never be sure if they did that. However, you will want to be sure that doing so won’t constitute a violation of your lease agreement. If possible, you should consider upgrading from conventional locks to electronic locks. This way, you’ll have a code that only you a few other trusted individuals know.

Check Door Hinges

While you are thinking about changing the hardware and other locks on the door, you should also check on the door hinges of your new home. Replacing the screws serve a dual purpose: increasing your security while ensuring that the door locks won’t jam. A jammed lock won’t open on either side – and if you ever run into this problem, you may need the assistance of a professional locksmith to resolve it. Before you do anything to the doors, make sure you aren’t breaking your lease agreement in a rental property, and that you have someone to help if you are modifying a home that you own.

Secure the Garage

Another worthwhile suggestion is to secure the garage attached to your home. Collect the remotes you have now and reprogram them. All of the garage door openers you have can present potential vulnerabilities since the doors could be linked to old remotes. If you’re still worried about unauthorized access, then you’re better off changing these remotes and installing a keypad lock on your garage. Key-less entry systems can help you control access, again, by only granting access to those who know the correct code.

Get to Know Your New Home

Lastly, take some time to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. Not all home emergencies will involve an intruder; sometimes you’ll need to put out a fire a or stop a flood in the basement. In these situations, you need to know where your fire extinguishers are and how to use them. The same goes for everyone in your family, along with how to find and turn off the water supply valve.