HomeAIQ

The New Homeowner Checklist: Your First 30 Days

The keys are yours. Here's what actually matters in the first month — before life gets busy and the details disappear.

Week 1 — Safety and access

Find the shut-offs before you need them: main water valve, gas shut-off, and the electrical panel. Label the breakers if the previous owner didn't.
Change every code and lock: re-key or replace door locks, reset the garage keypad, change alarm codes, and set a new Wi-Fi password. You have no idea who has the old ones.
Test smoke and CO detectors and put fresh batteries in all of them; note the manufacture dates on the back — detectors expire.
Locate the water heater's age and condition (rust, moisture at the base). If it's past 10 years, budget for replacement.

Week 2 — Document everything while it's fresh

Photograph every appliance nameplate: furnace, AC, water heater, kitchen appliances, washer/dryer, electrical panel. Model + serial numbers are what you'll need for every repair call, warranty claim, and recall check.
File the closing documents, inspection report, and any warranties somewhere you'll actually find them — not a shoebox.
Record what the sellers left behind: paint colors, filter sizes, manuals, service stickers on the furnace (those tell you who serviced it and when).
Start a home inventory of your valuables (electronics, furniture, jewelry, tools) with photos — your insurance company will ask for exactly this after a fire or break-in, and from-memory lists recover cents on the dollar.

Week 3 — Set up the routines

Buy the right filter sizes for your HVAC and set a recurring reminder (every 60–90 days).
Set up utilities autopay and note each account number, provider, and typical monthly cost in one place.
Walk the exterior: gutters clear? Downspouts draining away from the foundation? Grading sloped away from the house?
Meet the systems: run every faucet, flush every toilet, test every appliance — small leaks and dead outlets are much easier to negotiate with your inspector's report in hand during the first weeks.

Week 4 — Build your bench

Find your contractors before the emergency: a plumber, an electrician, and an HVAC company with good local reviews. Save their numbers now — 2am with a burst pipe is a bad time to read Yelp.
Schedule a furnace/AC tune-up if there's no service record from the past year.
Review your insurance: does your coverage match your new inventory? Are high-value items scheduled?
Set the seasonal calendar — see our seasonal maintenance schedule for the full year.

One place for all of it

Everything above generates information: model numbers, codes, contractors, documents, dates, reminders. Scattered across photos, texts, and drawers, it decays. Kept in one system, it compounds — every service call gets faster, every warranty claim gets easier, and when you eventually sell, you hand the buyer a complete record.

HomeAIQ is that system. Photograph a nameplate, a business card, a document, or a keypad and the AI files it in the right place — appliances with ages and lifespans, contractors with contact info, documents summarized, access codes secured. Maintenance reminders are generated automatically, and your whole household can share the same home.

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