Activate electricity (APS or SRP), water, and gas to begin on closing day — not the day after. In Phoenix summers, arriving at a home with no power means no AC within hours. Do not let this define your first night.

Your address determines your utility — you do not choose. SRP serves most of the East Valley and portions of the West Valley. APS serves the Northwest Metro including Peoria, Surprise, Anthem, and Glendale. Confirm at srpnet.com or aps.com by address before calling. Spending 30 minutes on the wrong utility’s hold queue is the most avoidable first-week mistake.

Phoenix’s AC is life-safety infrastructure, not a comfort amenity. Schedule a tune-up in April or May before triple-digit temperatures arrive and technician availability collapses. New homeowners who wait until June to discover a struggling system face 2-3 week wait times. A tune-up runs $100-$200 and identifies filter issues, refrigerant levels, and duct leaks before they become emergency failures at 115 degrees F.

Phoenix desert dust loads are dramatically higher than most U.S. climates. A dirty filter reduces airflow and raises electric bills. Change all filters before sleeping in the house. Replace every 30-60 days in summer, 60-90 days in cooler months. Stock 4-6 spares — in Phoenix, you will use them.

Walk every room, open every cabinet, test every outlet, run every faucet, flush every toilet, and photograph anything unusual — before any furniture enters the home. Pre-furniture documentation is your baseline for warranty claims, HOA disputes, and insurance claims. Everything is harder to document once a couch or appliance is in the way.

You do not know how many key copies exist from prior owners, contractors, or services. Re-key deadbolts ($50-$100 per lock) or replace hardware entirely. Reset all garage keypads and rolling codes. Reset any master keypad entry code. Do this before sleeping in the home.

Arizona law requires new residents to register vehicles within 10 days of establishing residency. Book an MVD appointment in advance at servicearizona.com — walk-in wait times at Phoenix Metro offices can exceed 90 minutes. Failure to register creates compliance problems that affect insurance and surface at vehicle resale.

Forward mail immediately at usps.com. Notify bank, employer, insurance carriers, investment accounts, and subscriptions. Update Arizona voter registration at azsos.gov. Missing this step routes important documents to a previous address — a problem that compounds the longer it persists.

Your policy was bound before possession. Now walk through it with the property in front of you. Verify dwelling coverage reflects correct square footage and rebuild cost. In Arizona specifically: confirm your policy covers monsoon damage — wind, sudden heavy rain, and hail. Standard policies vary significantly in how they handle monsoon-season losses. Confirm this in week one, not after a haboob.

Find the water main shutoff before a pipe bursts. Find and label every circuit in the electrical panel before one trips at midnight. Find the gas shutoff before you smell gas. Photograph all three locations and share them with every adult in the household. In Phoenix, the gas line most commonly feeds water heaters and ranges — not a central heating system as prominently as in colder climates.

Set to 78-80°F when occupied, 85°F when vacant. SRP offers bill credits through their Bring Your Own Thermostat (BYOT) program. APS offers installation rebates. In Phoenix’s climate, the payback period is measured in months, not years. Install it before the first serious heat event. The combination of smart thermostat plus solar screens is the highest-ROI first-month investment for most Phoenix homeowners.

West-facing windows in Phoenix receive direct afternoon sun at 110+ degrees F for months. Solar screens can cut cooling costs by up to 25% on those exposures, per SRP data. Inspect the condition of existing screens and whether west and east elevations are covered. Adding or upgrading solar screens is among the highest-ROI modifications a new Phoenix homeowner can make.

SRP and APS both offer time-of-use (TOU) rate plans where electricity costs more during peak hours (typically 3-8 pm) and less off-peak. Running dishwashers, washing machines, and pool pumps during peak hours means paying premium rates for loads that could run overnight at lower cost. Review your assigned rate plan in month one and model whether a TOU switch saves money. The difference can be $50-$150/month in summer.

The attic is the primary thermal barrier between rooftop heat and your living space in Phoenix. Homes built before the 1990s frequently fall below current insulation standards. Both APS and SRP offer subsidized home energy audits — typically $99 for what would otherwise be a $300-400 assessment — that include attic insulation evaluation. An adequately insulated attic can reduce cooling loads by 15-25%.

Official season runs June 15 through September 30. Before that date: clear gutters and downspouts, verify they drain away from the foundation, remove dead branches overhanging the roof, and secure or store patio furniture and lightweight outdoor items. Do not wait until the first storm to discover a drainage problem or find your patio umbrella in a neighbor’s yard.

Look up your address at msc.fema.gov. Many West Valley properties near washes carry FEMA flood zone designations. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage — that requires separate NFIP flood insurance. If your lender required flood insurance at closing, confirm it is active. If not required, verify your property’s elevation and drainage history before assuming zero monsoon flood risk.

Phoenix has more residential pools per capita than nearly any city in the U.S. An unmaintained pool becomes a health hazard and HOA violation in quick sequence. Hire a pool service in week two — basic service runs $80-$120/month. Also ensure pool pump timers run during off-peak electric hours to avoid paying peak rates for the second-largest electricity draw in the home.

Arizona’s warm soil supports active subterranean termite populations year-round. If your purchase included a termite clearance letter, confirm what treatment or warranty is in effect and who the bond holder is. If no clearance was issued, schedule an independent inspection within 60 days. Annual termite protection contracts run $200-$400/year — a standard component of Phoenix homeownership, not an optional add-on.

Most Phoenix Metro HOAs have specific requirements covering gravel coverage, approved plant species, and prohibited plants. Review your CC&Rs before making any landscaping changes. Also evaluate clearance between combustible desert vegetation and your home’s exterior — dry desert plants close to the structure carry fire risk that is meaningfully higher in Phoenix’s arid climate than in more humid regions.

Arizona’s climate is hard on homes: UV degradation of exterior paint, AC systems running 8-10 months per year, monsoon stress on roofing and drainage, pool equipment operating continuously. Budget 1-2% of purchase price annually for maintenance — on a $400,000 home, that is $4,000-$8,000/year. Set up automatic monthly contributions to a dedicated account immediately. The discipline built in month one determines the financial condition of the home in year five.

Most Phoenix Metro HOAs require advance approval for exterior changes — paint colors, added structures, landscaping modifications, new fencing, solar panels, or patio covers. ARC approval typically takes 30-60 days. Starting a project without approval means potential fines and mandatory reversal at your cost. Read your CC&Rs before planning any exterior work, regardless of how minor it seems.

Maricopa County reassesses annually. Review your current assessment at mcassessor.maricopa.gov. Arizona caps annual increases in Limited Property Value (LPV) at 5% per year. The deadline to appeal a Maricopa County assessment is typically in mid-spring — confirm the current year deadline when you review.

This is operational, not social: your immediate neighbors are your first-line intelligence on HOA compliance patterns, package theft activity, neighborhood dynamics, and local contractor recommendations. In Phoenix’s HOA-heavy West Valley communities, a brief introduction in week one establishes a functional support network before you need one.

Finding a reliable HVAC tech at 7 pm on a 112-degree June evening is a different problem than building a list calmly in March. In your first 60 days, compile vetted contacts for: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pool service, pest control, and roofing. Ask neighbors, check verified reviews, and conduct one engagement with each before an emergency forces the introduction. A reliable contractor network is a homeownership asset as real as a functioning roof.

Roof warranty, HVAC warranty, pool equipment warranty, appliance manuals, pest control agreements, HOA notices, permit records from prior work — photograph or scan everything you receive at closing or find in the home on move-in day. Store in a cloud folder labeled by property address. When an appliance fails three years from now, the warranty document you photographed in week one is the difference between a covered repair and full replacement cost.