--- title: "Bought a Chalet in Bonalba-Cotoveta? Gate, Door, Annex" description: "A resale chalet comes with locks other people still hold keys to. The order to change them in, from the street gate to the annex, and what can wait a month." url: "https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/bought-a-chalet-gate-door-and-annex-in-that-order/" business: "Locksmith Mutxamel" --- # Bought a chalet? The gate, the front door and the annex, in that order A resale chalet in Bonalba-Cotoveta, Valle del Sol or Monnegre comes with locks other people may still hold keys to. Which ones to change first, and which can wait a month. 30 October 2026 · 4 min read Urbanizations multiplied in Mutxamel until the first decade of the 2000s, so a lot of the chalets changing hands now in Bonalba, Cotoveta, Valle del Sol and Monnegre have had more than one owner, and more than one set of keys handed out. The previous owners, their cleaner, a gardener, a pool man, the agency that showed the house: you cannot know who still has one. You do not have to change everything on the first day. But do it in the right order. ## 1. The front door This is the one that matters most. On most chalet doors a **euro cylinder** is the only part a key touches, so changing the cylinder is enough to make every old key useless. It is a short job, and it is the moment to choose a cylinder with protection against snapping and bumping, if the door does not already have one. [How doors get forced](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/snapped-bumped-or-picked/) explains what those words mean. ## 2. Any door from the garage or annex into the house A door from the garage, a utility room or a cellar straight into the house is a second front door, whatever it looks like. Change it on the same visit. ## 3. The street gate The gate keeps out people who are not determined to get in. It still matters: it stops the casual visitor, and it makes anyone who does climb it more visible. Gate locks live in the sun and the rain and are often the most worn lock on the property, so this is a good time to replace rather than just re-key it. ## 4. Pool hut, storeroom, garage door Change these when you get to them. Write down which key opens what as you go. ## Jobs for another month The letterbox, internal doors, a garden shed with nothing in it. And if the alarm came with the house, ask the installer to reset every code: that is not a locksmith’s job, but it matters as much as the locks. ## Before the visit Count the keys you were given for each lock and note any lock you have no key for. A photo of each door edge on WhatsApp lets the right cylinders come on the first visit. If the house stood empty during the sale and something about a lock feels wrong, read [this guide](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/home-after-weeks-away-and-the-lock-feels-wrong/) before anything else, and if the door has clearly been tried, see [repairs after a forced entry](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/burglary-repair-mutxamel/). Ready to change the locks? Every outside lock of the house can be changed in one booked visit, with the price agreed before work starts. [Lock change Mutxamel, for the cylinder that has done its years](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/lock-change-mutxamel/) Two more worth a look - [Home after weeks away, and the lock feels wrong](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/home-after-weeks-away-and-the-lock-feels-wrong/) · 4 min - [Snapped, bumped or picked: how front doors are forced](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/snapped-bumped-or-picked/) · 5 min - [Every guide for Mutxamel](https://locksmithmutxamel.es/blog/) ## Easier to explain it on the phone? Ring at any hour, or send a photo of the door and a location pin on WhatsApp. Open 24 hours · 7 days [+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34678583290?text=Hi%2C%20I%20need%20a%20locksmith%20in%20Mutxamel.%20Where%20I%20am%20(street%2C%20and%20the%20urbanization%20or%20partida%3A%20Bonalba%2C%20Valle%20del%20Sol%2C%20El%20Ravalet%2C%20Riodel%E2%80%A6)%20and%20what%20has%20happened%3A)