Moving Into a New Place? You Might Want To Change Your Locks

No home is 100% safe. All you have to do is to read or watch the news to see there are robberies, burglaries and home invasions every day. You cannot stop them, but you can take steps to lower the risk of such events occurring within your own home.

One of the first things you should consider doing when you move into a new home is changing the locks. While the previous owners or tenants may claim to have turned over all the keys, that may not be the truth. In reality, there are probably numerous copies of the keys in circulation and forgotten about. They may have given them to friends, neighbors or relatives. They may have hidden them beneath a rock outside the front door and forgotten them. It is hard to say what they may have done with the extra keys, but there are likely a few out there.


When you look at the overall value of your possessions - clothing, jewelry, electronics, furniture - there is a lot of money tied up in these things. Even more important is the value of your own safety and piece of mind. Knowing that only you and your family possess the keys to your home gives a little piece of mind that is well worth the investment.

Let's not forget the fact that insurance companies are always looking for reasons to deny claims. If your home is burglarized by a former tenant or friend of his and they discover the locks were not changed, they just might not approve your claim. Not changing the locks in your new home is not much different than leaving the keys in your car as you park it at the curb.

Think of putting new locks throughout your new home (or re keying the existing locks) as "added insurance". Compared to the cost of replacing possessions - with or without home owner's insurance - lock replacemant is relatively inexpensive. The savings in mental stress is also a benefit to which a price cannot be attributed. In today's world, you just cannot play it too safe when it comes to home safety and security.