Can you please suggest locks for the landlord like me who has just 3-4 properties?

I am buying a deadbolt-lock combo from Lowes for $30 at the turnover and throwing the old lock away. Is there any better / cheaper option ?

I am also not very handy person so it takes 30-40 minutes for me to change locks. I am ok to spend little extra if the lock change will be faster.

landlordlocks.com/

Just install the deadbolt, only the boyfriend can lock you out. Most of the box store locks are plastic inside, another vote to landlord locks, sometimes they can get you setup during the convention if you get your request in early.

Another vote for Landlord locks. I get a passage knob and I get a single throw deadbolt. I used to get locking knobs but found tenants would lock themselves out. I use the locking knobs for an exterior door without a deadbolt like exterior hotwater heater area or a laundry area attached to a carport.

Arrow RK01 BD Passage Knob 2 3/8" - 60mm

Stanley QDB281 626 2 3/8" - 60mm

the advantage of using these locks is you can use the control key to remove the "guts" of the lock, put in another cylinder, and thus change the locks on the unit without changing out the door knobs themselves.

If you have 4 units, I'd change them over when the tenant leaves or if you are excited about it tell them the handy man will be over this weekend to change the locks. Boom done!

If you get an extra set of cylinders you would swap them out when the tenant leaves.

You will have a master key that opens all the units no matter what set you place on the house.

House 1 - Set 1

House 2 - Set 2

House 3 - Set 3

House 4 - Set 4

House 2 leaves keep set 2 but put in set 5 cylinders.

House 4 leaves Keep set 4 but put in set 2 cylinders.

House 1 leaves keep set 1 but put in set 4 cylinders.

etc.

ONE KEY TO RULE THEM ALL!!!!!!

Tom,

If I had ONE house I'd use landlordlocks.com's iCore deadbolts.

Sturdier locks that last forever, harder to pick, I can change cylinders between residents in just seconds. No locksmith or workbench time needed to rekey.

YOu wil spend more replaing store brands than the cost of iCore.

Extra keys are an email away and ALWAYS work so we don't even need to test replacement keys.

When she wants to change locks to feel more secure when her abusive boyfriend left but still has a key, seconds to change, always a few spare cylinders in the truck.

No Kwikset Smartkey for me because the resident can change the lock as easily as the LL, locking the LL out of their own property. We must stay in control fo our properties. Sometimes people skip out without leaving their keys so I'd have to drill out (destroy) a Smartkey lock just to get into my own prop. Then buy another one to replace it. More work and more expense.

I'm in the for FREEDOM!!! not to chase down keys and replace flimsy store locks.

BRAD

What Brad said... Landlord Locks and icore.

I've never had a resident rekey my smart locks. And I don't need any tools like to fuse with changing out any parts. I have had tenants and those with LL locks have too, where the tenant removes the entire lock set and tossed it and replaced with standard cheaper locks. That expensive cones of their deposit as damage. Anyway for my small number of properties, my skills, my convenience I'm sticking with Kwik set relatable locks.

I have witnessed Kwikset Smart locks fail. I do not like them at all. When they fail it usually means you have to destroy them.

I still use Kwikset entry locks. I always carry a spare set in my truck for emergency changes. I swap them out at every turnover and keep the keys and locks together for the next place.

With four units you could do this easily as mentioned above. Unless they are all in the same building or on the same block.

I also used to rekey and master key all the locks so I could gain access more easily. Now I just grab the key for that set of locks (all coded, no addresses).

Have had a few lock-out calls. I need to make the switch to deadbolt only. Just lazy and haven't done it. I have so many locks sitting in a tote I should never run out.

Also not a Kwikset Smart-key fan here. I think the quality is just "ok" and, as said above, the tenant can rekey them just as easily as you with a $5 kit.

Landlord locks for me. The only thing I wish I did differently was that the i-Core stuff was brand new when I started with them and no one here had mentioned them, so I went with their standard stuff. It's fine, but I wish I had known about the bought the i-Core from the start.

plenty made a great point about residents changing their locks.

When you buy the iCore locks, specify TRAP (Tenant Resistant Apparatus) Screws with a security head. They need a special screwdriver tip to remove.

Also we crimp the threads so they are hard runners and don't wiggle loose.

Hey J!

I've been using the Kwikset smartkeys. I'm thinking about changing out the handle to no key if there is a deadbolt but not sure yet... seems that this is the year so far that tenants are locking themselves out of their apartments.

When I was brand new, I installed Landlord locks at each rental -- including a deadbolt and lockable handles (where they just twist the thing to lock it). It was just "normal" to me and what I had in my house.

By my SECOND year as a landlord, I had replaced all of those turn-to-lock handles with blank passage knobs. WAY too many lock-outs.

They can't lock themselves out with a deadbolt unless they lose their key.