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New Homeowner Checklist: The First 90 Days
Congratulations — you own a home. Now what?
The first 90 days of homeownership are a strange mix of excitement and overwhelm. You're unpacking boxes, painting rooms, and also trying to figure out which of the previous owner's phone numbers in your contacts might be the plumber. This checklist is designed to help you get the fundamentals right so you're not learning them the hard way later.
Everything here is organized by priority and timeframe. Do the safety items first. The maintenance items can wait a few weeks. The long-term planning items just need to happen before month three ends.
Before Your First Night: Safety Basics
These four things should happen before you sleep in the house if at all possible.
Change all the exterior locks (or re-key them). You don't know who has copies of the old keys. Locksmiths typically charge $30–$80 per lock to re-key; replacing hardware costs more but lets you choose quality locks. This is the single highest-priority item on this list.
Test every smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector. Replace batteries even if they test functional — you want to know when they were last changed. If the detectors are more than 10 years old, replace them. Smoke detectors have a finite sensor life.
Locate the main water shut-off valve. If a pipe bursts or an appliance fails, you need to be able to cut the water supply to the entire house in under 60 seconds. In most homes it's near the water meter, often in a basement, utility room, or on an exterior wall. Find it before you need it.
Locate the electrical panel and label the breakers if they're not already labeled. You'll want to know which breaker controls what before you're standing in a dark kitchen trying to figure it out.
Week 1: Orientation
Once you're through the first night, spend the first week getting oriented to the mechanical and operational reality of your home.
Find the gas shut-off valve if your home has gas service. It's usually near the meter outside. Know where it is and how to turn it off — you shouldn't need to know this often, but when you do, you'll really need to know.
Locate and test every GFCI outlet (the ones with the "Test" and "Reset" buttons, usually in bathrooms, kitchens, and garages). Press the test button — the outlet should stop working. Press reset — it should work again. If any fail, call an electrician.
Find the water heater and note its age (it's stamped on the unit or in a serial number you can decode online). Water heaters typically last 8–12 years for traditional tank models. If yours is approaching that age, factor it into your financial planning.
Locate the main HVAC filter and replace it if you don't know when it was last changed. Filter replacement is a $10–$30 task that extends the life of a system that costs $5,000–$15,000 to replace. Do it quarterly going forward.
Read your home inspection report. If you bought with an inspection, you have a document that describes every major system in your home, its current condition, and what attention it will need. This is the most valuable document you received at closing. Most homeowners file it and never look at it again. Don't do that.
Month 1: Utilities, Services, and Documentation
The administrative work of homeownership is unglamorous but genuinely important.
Transfer all utilities to your name if not already done: electricity, gas, water, trash collection, internet. This sounds obvious but it's easy to miss one.
Update your address with the USPS, your bank, your employer, your insurance providers, the DMV, and anyone else who mails you anything.
Find and file your homeowner's insurance policy. Know what it covers and what it doesn't. Most standard policies do not cover flooding, earthquake, or certain types of water damage from gradual leaks — understanding your coverage before you file a claim is strongly preferable to discovering gaps after.
Locate all manufacturer warranties and manuals for appliances that came with the home. If they weren't provided at closing, the manufacturer's website usually has digital versions available by model number. Create a folder (physical or digital) for these.
Set up a dedicated folder or app for home documentation: photos of every room "before" you make changes, receipts for any work done, contractor contact information, permit records, and the inspection report.
Find out your property tax due dates and assess whether your mortgage escrow is properly accounting for them. Surprises here are expensive.
Month 2: Get to Know the House
After the chaos of moving settles, spend month two learning how your home actually works before something goes wrong.
Flush your water heater if it hasn't been done recently. Sediment buildup at the bottom of tank water heaters is a major cause of early failure and energy inefficiency. This is a 30-minute DIY task with a garden hose.
Check the attic and basement (or crawl space) for signs of moisture, pests, or insulation gaps. Catching a slow roof leak or pest intrusion early costs far less than addressing it after it's had months to develop.
Check the caulking around tubs, showers, and sinks. Failed caulk is the primary entry point for water into walls. If it's cracking or pulling away, replacing it is a $10 project that prevents thousands in water damage.
Test your sump pump if you have one (relevant for homes in wet climates or with basements). Pour water into the pit — it should activate automatically. Sump pump failures during a heavy rain event are a leading cause of basement flooding.
If you have a fireplace, schedule a chimney inspection and cleaning before your first fire. The National Fire Protection Association recommends annual inspection for any fireplace in use. Creosote buildup is a leading cause of house fires.
Month 3: Financial Planning and Systems
By month three, the immediate chaos has settled and it's time to think longer-term.
Create a home maintenance budget. Industry guidance varies, but a reasonable starting point is 1–2% of your home's value per year for maintenance and repairs. For a $400,000 home, that's $4,000–$8,000 annually. If your home is older or in a harsh climate, lean toward the higher end.
Set up a dedicated savings account for home maintenance and emergencies. Separate from your general emergency fund — home systems fail on their own schedule, not yours.
Review your inspection report a second time with fresh eyes. Now that you've lived in the house for 90 days, the findings will mean something different. The inspector's note about "evidence of previous roof repair above the master bedroom" hits differently once you've been in the room during a rainstorm.
Identify any items from the inspection report that were noted as needing attention within 1–2 years and put them on a calendar. These aren't emergencies but they will become expensive if ignored.
Find two or three reliable local contractors — a plumber, an electrician, and a general handyman — before you need them. Contractor relationships take time to build, and having a trusted contact for each major trade means you're not making panic decisions when something goes wrong.
What the Inspection Report Tells You (If You Actually Use It)
The home inspection report most buyers receive is, on average, 40–60 pages long. It contains information about the age and condition of every major system in the home. It notes items that need immediate attention, items that will need attention within 1–3 years, and items that are fine now but should be monitored.
Most homeowners look at it once, during negotiations, and never open it again.
That's a mistake. The inspection report is the closest thing to a management manual that most homes come with. If yours was recently delivered, treating it as a live document rather than a historical one will save you real money over the years you own the home.
Some platforms now convert inspection reports into personalized maintenance systems — essentially translating the inspector's technical findings into a calendar of tasks, guides, and reminders specific to your home's actual systems. If your agent used one of those tools as a closing gift, you may already have this set up. If not, it's worth the effort to do it manually, or find a platform that can do it for you.
The first 90 days are about getting your bearings. After that, the work of homeownership settles into a rhythm. Get the basics right now, and the rhythm is manageable. Ignore them, and you'll spend the next several years playing catch-up.