Think about how many people you've entrusted with a key to your current home: neighbors, your dog-walker, your maid service, Aunt Molly. When you move into a new home after closing escrow, there's no way to know who may hold keys to it.

For safety's sake, don't forget to change the locks when you move into a new home. An easy way to do it is to just install new locks on all of the exterior doors. But for a modest charge, a qualified locksmith can change the tumblers inside the home's existing locks to fit a new key. A benefit of using a locksmith is that you can then have one key that works every lock on every door.

You may still want to give a key to your neighbor. You'll get to meet the folks next door, and you'll have a place to go if you lock yourself out. But at least you'll know just who has a key.