The St. Louis New Homeowner's Move-In Checklist (2026)
You've closed. The keys are yours. Before you unpack a single box, there's a short list of things St. Louis homeowners handle in the first two weeks — in an order that saves a callback later.
Whether you landed in Kirkwood, Clayton, South City, or Metro East, the first-two-weeks checklist looks basically the same. Here's the sequence that avoids the most common mistakes.
Step 1: Rekey the Locks — Same Day
You have no idea how many copies of the old keys are floating around — past tenants, contractors, a neighbor who watered plants. Rekeying (not replacing) the existing locks is the fast, lower-cost fix, and most St. Louis locksmiths run a dedicated new-homeowner rate:
- Sure Lock & Key — runs a specific new-homeowner rekey package for exactly this situation.
Step 2: Set Up Water & Refuse Service
If you're inside city limits, water and trash billing are handled together by one office — and it's not automatic on closing day. Apply as soon as you have a closing date, since transfers can take about 5 business days:
Step 3: Update Your License & Registration if You're New to Missouri
Moved in from out of state? Missouri gives new residents 30 days to title a vehicle previously registered elsewhere, and driver's license transactions can be done at any office statewide:
Step 4: Close the Loop on Inspection Follow-Ups
If your pre-purchase inspection flagged anything — an aging water heater, a roof section, an electrical panel — don't let it sit. A second opinion or a follow-up inspection before your first winter or storm season is well worth the small cost:
- ORF Home Inspections — serves St. Louis, St. Charles, Lincoln, and Warren counties for follow-up and pre-listing inspections.
Step 5: If You're Still Moving Boxes, Get Local Help
For the last-mile stuff — a piano, a safe, the furniture that didn't fit in the first trip — a local St. Louis-based mover is usually faster to book than a national chain for small jobs:
- Arch Moving — St. Louis-based, handles local residential moves including partial/second-trip jobs.
Step 6: The First Deep Clean — Before You Fill the House
The best time for a genuine deep clean is the narrow window after the sellers move out and before your furniture goes in — every closet, baseboard, and vent is fully accessible exactly once.
That's the gap Clean Town & Country is built for: a steam-first deep clean timed to an empty house, so day one in the new place actually feels like day one.
Bottom line: locks, utilities, paperwork, inspection follow-ups, the last of the move, then the deep clean — in that order, nothing gets forgotten and nothing waits until it's a bigger problem.