Your first 30 days in a new Houston home, handled.

Closing day is a relief — and then you’re standing in an empty house with a stack of keys and a hundred small things to do. The good news: almost none of it is urgent in the dramatic sense, but a few items are time-sensitive in Texas, and missing them costs real money. So here’s the order I’d actually do it in. Knock out week one’s safety basics first, get your utilities and paperwork sorted in the first couple of weeks, and then settle in. Print this, or just work down it.

Week 1: safety first

Change the locks or re-key. You have no idea how many copies of those keys are floating around — past owners, contractors, the dog walker, the neighbor. A locksmith can re-key the existing hardware for less than replacing it, or a smart lock lets you reset codes anytime. Do this first; it’s the one thing that genuinely shouldn’t wait.

Find your shutoffs before you need them. Walk the house and physically locate three things while it’s calm: the main water shutoff (often at the front of the house near the street, or where the line enters), the electrical breaker panel (and take two minutes to see which breakers are labeled), and the gas shutoff at the meter if you have gas. The middle of a burst-pipe or a gas-smell emergency is the worst time to go hunting for these.

Test every smoke and carbon-monoxide detector. Press the buttons, replace any battery that chirps, and note how old the units are — detectors expire (usually after about 10 years). If the previous owner left you a house full of dead batteries, now you know.

Get the utilities on

This is the step that surprises people moving to Texas from out of state, so start it before you move in if you can. Most of the Houston area sits in Texas’s deregulated electricity market — which means the power doesn’t just come on in your name. You choose your own retail electric provider, and there are dozens.

The right move is to compare plans on the state’s official, unbiased site, PowerToChoose.org, run by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Filter by contract length and read the Electricity Facts Label for the price at the usage level closest to what you’ll actually use — a plan that looks cheap at 2,000 kWh can be expensive at 1,000. Watch for teaser rates that jump after a few months and for early-termination fees. (A few Houston-area communities are on a municipal utility and don’t get to choose — but most homeowners do.) Then line up the rest:

• Water & sewer — through your city, or your MUD (Municipal Utility District) if your community has one. Check the welcome packet or ask me; it’s on your closing documents.
• Natural gas — if your home has it (many Houston homes are all-electric).
• Trash & recycling — set up service and find your pickup day; in unincorporated areas this is sometimes a private hauler, not the city.
• Internet — check which providers actually serve your exact address before you commit; it varies block to block.

Money & paperwork (the time-sensitive part)

File your homestead exemption — this is the big one. If the home is your primary residence, the Texas homestead exemption knocks a large chunk off your taxable value (the school-tax exemption is $140,000 for 2026). Since 2022 you can file as soon as you close and move in — you no longer wait for the next January 1. File by April 30 to have it apply for the current tax year; if you miss that, Texas still lets you file late and claim it retroactively for up to two years. It’s free, you file once, and you file with your county appraisal district. I walk every client through this — here’s my full Texas homestead exemption guide.

Update your license and registration (new-to-Texas). New residents have 90 days to get a Texas driver license and 30 days to register their vehicles. Because the DMV wants proof of Texas registration when you apply for the license, most people handle the vehicle first. The official starting point is TxDMV’s New to Texas page. If you’re already a Texan and just moved across town, update your address on both.

Lock in insurance and autopay. Your homeowner’s policy was likely in place at closing — now set it to autopay so coverage never lapses, and do the same for your mortgage. While you’re at it, it’s worth understanding why Houston home insurance runs high and what actually moves your premium, because it’s one of the bigger ongoing costs of owning here.

Settle in

Change the HVAC filter and write down the size. You have no idea when it was last done, and in Houston your AC runs most of the year. A fresh filter on day one — and a note of the size taped inside the closet — saves you guessing later. (Your AC will be working hard before you know it; that’s what the Houston home maintenance checklist is for.)

Deep-clean the priorities. Before furniture lands, hit the spots that are miserable to clean later: inside cabinets and the pantry, the dishwasher and washer filters, vents, and bathrooms. An empty house is the easiest it’ll ever be to clean.

Meet a couple of neighbors. It’s not just friendly — neighbors are your best source for which lawn service is good, when trash actually runs, and where the floodwater goes in a hard rain. Two minutes of hello pays off for years.

Houston first-timer notes

A few things that catch newcomers off guard in this market specifically:

• Clay soil moves. Houston’s expansive clay swells and shrinks with the rain, and that’s hard on foundations. The fix is boring and cheap: water your foundation consistently in dry stretches. Here’s the Houston foundation guide on how and why.
• Hurricane season is June through November. Build a basic kit and a plan now, while it’s quiet, not when a storm is in the Gulf. My Houston hurricane prep guide covers what actually matters.
• Know your flood picture. Find out whether you’re in a flood zone and whether you carry flood insurance (it’s separate from your homeowner’s policy). Even outside mapped zones, Houston floods — knowing your risk up front beats finding out the hard way.

That’s the whole list. None of it is hard; the trick is just doing the time-sensitive pieces early. If anything here raises a question — or you moved in without an agent and wish you’d had one in your corner — I’m happy to help, no strings attached.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to file a homestead exemption in Texas?

Since 2022 you can file as soon as you close and move in as your primary residence — no waiting for the next January 1. File by April 30 to apply it to the current tax year; if you miss that, Texas lets you file late and claim it retroactively for up to two years. It’s free and you only file once. See my full homestead exemption guide.

How do I choose an electricity provider in Houston?

Most of the Houston area is in Texas’s deregulated market, so you pick your own retail provider — it doesn’t turn on automatically. Compare every certified provider on the state’s official site, PowerToChoose.org, read the Electricity Facts Label at your real expected usage, and watch for teaser rates and early-termination fees.

What should I do first after closing on a house in Houston?

Week one: re-key the locks, find your water, breaker, and gas shutoffs, and test the smoke and CO detectors. Then transfer utilities into your name, file your homestead exemption, and update your license and registration. After that, settle in — fresh HVAC filter, deep-clean, meet the neighbors.