I have an upcoming listing that reminds me of the importance of securing a home by changing the garage keypad code.

There are a lot of Boise homes that have had the same garage keypad code since they were brand-new!

This particular home is owned by out-of-state sellers and has been rented twice since they moved out of area.

The last tenant moved out last week and the property manager doesn’t know the garage keypad code.

That means the last tenant, and perhaps the previous tenant, could still access the house.

There’s also the possibility that various friends/neighbors of the tenants could have the garage code too.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the code is still the same one my seller used years ago!

That probably wouldn’t be a problem in this situation, but imagine a scenario where a tenant leaves on bad terms with the owner (unpaid rent, cost of repairs taken out of the tenant’s deposit, etc.)

So, I will be going to the house today to re-program the garage code keypad.

Re-programming a garage keypad code is relatively simple with most garage door openers.

Most of them have a “learn” button on the back of the garage door opener.

You simply press that button until the light on the unit blinks, then you have 30 seconds to type in a new code on the keypad and press “enter”.

Be sure to test the new code after you’ve changed it to make sure it works.

Tip of the Day:

When you type in the new code, try to be more original than using “0000” or “1234”.

Those codes exist for most of the garage keypads in the Boise real estate market.