People keep moving to Austin from all over the country. If you are reading this, you probably just signed something and are looking at boxes. The first 30 days in a new Austin home are when key-control vulnerabilities are highest. Lockboxes still on doors. Contractor codes still active. The previous owner’s friends still holding spare keys. Real estate agent’s master code on the smart lock.
This is the 30-day checklist that closes those gaps, in order. Print it and work through it.
Day 1: Rekey Every Exterior Lock
The minute the closing finishes (or the lease starts), call a locksmith. Rekey the front door, the back door, the side door, the garage entry door, and any exterior gate locks.
Per the WOW Locks live rate card, rekeying is $30 per lock with a 3-lock minimum, plus $15 for a new keyset. Additional keys are quoted on the call. A typical four-door home lands at roughly $135 plus tax, and the rekey itself is a short job. The full breakdown lives on the lock rekeying service page. Not sure whether your hardware should be rekeyed or replaced? Read rekey or replace locks when moving to Austin. Buying a new build in the suburbs? See the new construction rekey guide.
This single step reclaims key control from every previous owner, contractor, and friend-of-the-owner who ever held a spare key.
Day 1 to 3: Audit Garage and Outbuildings
The garage is where most homeowners forget to look. Garage door opener codes default to factory or to the previous owner’s number; reset both the wall-mounted keypad code and any handheld remotes. Check the side garage entry door (if it has its own lock) and rekey it as part of the day-one job.
Outbuildings count too. Sheds, detached garages, ADU units, pool gates, and storage rooms. Replace any padlocks where the prior owner cannot account for every key. Factory default keypad codes are still common on garages; change yours immediately.
Week 1: Smart-Lock Decision
If a smart lock is on your list, schedule it during week one. The reason is operational. The locksmith already has door measurements, hardware brands, and the keying picture from the day-one rekey. Adding a smart-lock install while that information is fresh is easier than calling back six months later.
The 2026 smart-lock category is mature. Schlage Encode, August Gen 4, Yale Assure 2, Level Bolt, and Aqara U200 are all reliable. Pick the model based on your smart-home ecosystem. Avoid the trap of “I will get to it later.” Plenty of people say that and never do.
Week 1: Mailbox Lock
If you live somewhere with a cluster mailbox (common in Mueller, parts of East Austin, and many newer developments in Cedar Park, Pflugerville, Leander and Round Rock), check whether you actually have a working mailbox key. If you do not, or it does not turn smoothly, get it replaced. Cluster mailbox keys usually come from your local Post Office or property manager, so ask them first. A locksmith can help with a private mailbox lock.
This matters because mail theft is a common identity-theft route. Tax documents, replacement credit cards, and bank statements all arrive via mail in the first 30 days at a new address.
Week 2: Window Locks and Sliding Door Reinforcement
Walk every ground-floor window. Confirm each one has a working lock. Many older Austin bungalows have original sash locks that are decorative at this point, not functional. Install window pin locks (inexpensive at any hardware store) or call a locksmith for hardened pin locks where needed.
Sliding patio doors are a known weak point. A standard sliding door can often be lifted out of the track. Install a security bar in the bottom track and a lift-prevention pin at the top. Inexpensive parts, and a quick install.
Week 2 to 4: Safe and Document Storage
If you brought a home safe with you, get the combination set or rekeyed. If you inherited a safe with the house, definitely get it set. Combinations from a previous owner are not yours.
Inventory the documents that genuinely cannot be replaced. Deeds. Passports. Social security cards. Birth certificates. Hard drives with photos. Estate documents. Originals in the safe, digital backups in a separate cloud account, and a list of what you have somewhere accessible.
Month 1: Monitoring vs DIY Camera Decision
DIY camera systems (Ring, Nest, Eufy) tend to cost less upfront, and many charge an optional subscription for cloud recording. They notify your phone, record locally or to cloud storage, and require you to act when an event happens. Best fit when somebody is usually home and you mostly want a record.
Professionally monitored systems (ADT, SimpliSafe with monitoring, Vivint) cost more upfront and carry a monthly monitoring fee, but a real human dispatches police when the alarm triggers. Best fit when the home sits empty for full days at a time.
WOW Locks does not install cameras and does not run alarm monitoring. We do the lock side. Bring the alarm and camera question up at the rekey appointment and we will tell you what to look for in an installer.
The Austin-Specific Risks Worth Knowing
A few patterns are documented locally and worth knowing on the front end.
Porch package theft. Porch piracy is common in many cities, Austin included, particularly during the November and December delivery wave. The fix is a doorbell camera or a locking porch box.
Default garage codes. Plenty of homes still run the factory keypad code on the garage. Change it day one.
Rotating short-term rental neighbors. If you live near short-term rentals (and in Austin, almost everyone does in some neighborhoods), the access pattern next door is constant rotation. This is not necessarily a security issue, but the volume of strangers in the neighborhood means you should confirm your own door is locked behind you every time.
Construction-site break-ins. If you bought a home that needs remodeling, contractor tools and copper get stolen from active jobsites. Lock the house every time you leave even for 20 minutes.
Call WOW Locks
Rekey, smart-lock install and master key systems across Austin and the surrounding metro. Every add-on is quoted on the call before dispatch. Texas DPS (TOPS) license B10595301.
Visit our residential locksmith page, our lock rekeying page, our smart lock installation page, or the pricing page. Service across Austin and surrounding suburbs including Cedar Park, Round Rock, Mueller, and Pflugerville.
Call (844) 969-5625.