What’s the first thing you did after moving into your Ohio home? If it involved hunting for a decent pizza place or scoping out the nearest Meijer, you’re not alone. But while it’s tempting to celebrate with takeout and a stack of unopened boxes, the first 30 days inside a new home aren’t just about unpacking. They’re about not getting blindsided later. In this blog, we will share exactly what to check, fix, and pay attention to in those early weeks.
Start with the Systems That Can Wreck Your Week
You don’t need to be an engineer to recognize that your home’s heating, cooling, plumbing, and electrical systems are basically a quartet of potential disasters waiting to happen. If one goes sideways, it won’t politely ask if you’ve got the time and budget to deal with it.
That air conditioner might’ve run fine during the seller’s last walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean it’ll keep you cool through Labor Day. The best move here is to book a quick system inspection—especially with a reputable AC contractor in Cincinnati, OH. A short tune-up now can help you avoid coming home from work to a house hotter than your car’s glovebox. They’ll check refrigerant levels, inspect coils, and catch minor issues before they turn into wallet-busting ones.
While you’re at it, check your thermostat settings. It’s easy to overlook a programmable system left on an old schedule that cools the house at 2 p.m. when you’re still at work. That’s money out the window. And if the home has a furnace, have someone verify that it’s not full of lint and regret.
The plumbing deserves just as much scrutiny. Look under every sink and check the shutoff valves. Open the access panels for your water heater. Feel the pipes after a hot shower. If they’re rattling like old bones, or if water pressure suddenly drops while you’re shampooing, you’re going to want a plumber’s number in your contacts, fast.
Check What’s Locked—and What Isn’t
Most new homeowners change the locks. Some forget or delay it because the seller “seemed nice.” Maybe they were. That’s not the point. The point is you don’t know how many keys are floating around—maybe the old owner gave one to a cousin, their dog walker, or their weird neighbor who once helped with groceries. Replace the locks on all exterior doors. Go with deadbolts, not those button-in-the-handle setups you can jimmy with a butter knife.
Garage doors often get overlooked. If it has a keypad entry, reset the code. If it uses remotes, reprogram them. Many garage systems have rolling codes for security, but that doesn’t do much if the last owner handed out openers like party favors.
Window locks are another weak spot. A surprising number of them don’t actually latch. Push each window to see if it shifts under pressure. You don’t want your house to turn into a breeze-friendly invitation for break-ins or raccoons.
Look for What’s Trying to Get In
Speaking of raccoons, check the perimeter. Literally. Walk around your house with a flashlight at dusk. Look for gaps along the siding, loose vents, holes near the foundation, or trees overhanging the roof. If there’s a space wider than your thumb, an animal can squeeze through. Even wasps will take the smallest hole in your eaves as an engraved invitation.
Seal everything. Use foam for big gaps, caulk for the small ones. Install screens on attic vents. Make sure your chimney has a cap. You don’t want to wake up to scratching in the walls or a possum in your laundry room.
And while we’re outside: your gutters probably aren’t fine. Everyone thinks they’re fine, until it rains and water pours straight over the edge like a sad little waterfall. Clogged gutters lead to roof leaks and cracked foundations. Clean them out. If you find roofing granules in there, your shingles are eroding. Put that on your “sooner than later” list.
Watch the Water and Where It Wanders
New homes often hide slow leaks. You may not see a puddle, but over time they soak into baseboards, drywall, or under flooring. Check behind toilets and under dishwashers. Run your hands along pipes in the basement or crawl space. Touch the wood. If it’s damp or soft, you’ve got a problem.
Another silent troublemaker: drainage. After a decent rain, watch how water moves around your yard. If it pools near the foundation or drains toward the house, you’re not just risking erosion. You’re risking a flooded basement or moldy crawlspace. Grade the soil away from the structure. Add downspout extensions. Cheap fixes now can prevent costly repairs later.
Set Expectations With the Neighbors
You don’t need to throw a welcome party. But you should know who lives beside you, especially if they’ve got noisy habits or cameras pointed at your backyard. Knock on a couple doors. Ask how the street floods when it storms. Ask about package theft. See if there’s a neighborhood Facebook group. Sometimes what people say over a beer will tell you more than the inspection report ever could.
There’s also the growing reality that homeownership now often comes with surveillance. If your neighbors run doorbell cams, security lights, or backyard drones, your privacy is a little more negotiable than it used to be. That’s not paranoia—it’s just where we are now. Get familiar with what’s visible from where.
Get a Notebook, Start a Log, Embrace the Mess
You will not remember everything the inspector said. Or what brand of filter your HVAC system uses. Or where the breaker is for the weird outlet in the guest bath. So don’t try. Write it down. Keep a home log. Jot down maintenance dates. Track filter changes, pest treatments, and what that weird noise in the attic turned out to be.
Perfection isn’t the goal here. You’ll miss something. Everyone does. Maybe you’ll paint a wall before realizing the shade is one step removed from highlighter yellow. Maybe you’ll break a sprinkler head with your car tire. That’s all fine. You don’t need a flawless house. You need one that you understand.
Buying a home is less like crossing a finish line and more like finding the start of a trail that’ll keep changing as you walk it. But those first 30 days? That’s when you lay down the rules. That’s when you decide whether you’re reacting or staying ahead of the curve.
It doesn’t matter whether the home was built in 1922 or last November. What matters is how you treat it from the first day forward. You don’t have to be obsessive. You just have to be present, curious, and maybe a little bit suspicious of that stain near the water heater.
