County Permit Reports › Guides › Contractor lead sources compared
Lead sources · Indianapolis metro
Contractor lead sources compared: shared leads, bid boards and permit data
Contractor leads come from five kinds of sources: pay-per-lead marketplaces, local search ads, directories and review sites, bid boards, and building-permit data. The first three bring you homeowners who are asking for a quote; bid boards bring projects that are out to bid; permit data shows every job that is already happening — who is building, where, and for how much. County Permit Reports is the permit-data option for the Indianapolis metro: plans start at $99 a month with a 7-day free trial.
The five kinds of lead sources, compared
| Source | Well-known examples | What you get | Usually paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-per-lead marketplaces | Angi (and HomeAdvisor), Thumbtack | A homeowner request for a quote, often sent to more than one contractor | The lead or contact |
| Local search ads | Google Local Services Ads | Calls and messages from people searching for your trade nearby | The lead |
| Directories, reviews & community | Houzz, BuildZoom, Nextdoor | A profile people find when they compare contractors | Free listing or paid placement |
| Bid boards & project databases | PlanHub, BidClerk, Dodge Construction Network | Projects out to bid, mostly commercial, with plans and GCs | Subscription |
| Building-permit data | Town permit portals; compiled reports such as County Permit Reports | Every permitted job: address, builder, town, job value | Free one at a time; subscription when compiled |
Categories describe how each kind of service generally works. Pricing and coverage vary by provider and market — ask each one directly.
Where permit data fits
A permit is not a homeowner asking for a quote. Somebody already won that job. What a permit gives you is everything around it: the subs and suppliers the builder still needs, the trades that follow (a new home needs HVAC, garage doors, countertops; a pool needs a fence, a patio and a service company), and an exact map of where your market is spending.
In September 2026 the Indianapolis metro filed 1,455 permits across our four reports: 543 new homes, 587 remodels, 241 commercial and 84 pools. On the new-home permits, 74 of the 112 builders named pulled exactly one — roughly two in three. Those are the builders nobody is calling yet.
Free resources for finding new development permits
Permits are public, so the raw records are free: every town’s building department publishes them, through a portal, a spreadsheet or a records request. In Indianapolis that is the city’s permit portal — see the Marion County, Indiana permit guide. What costs time is checking twenty-plus towns every month in twenty different formats. That legwork is what a compiled report replaces.
Finding projects before construction starts
- New-home permits by subdivision. When a builder files three permits in one subdivision, more are coming. September’s new-home permits named 104 subdivisions.
- Commercial permits with big declared values. 64 of September’s commercial permits carried a value of $1 million or more — work that runs for months.
- Bid boards for commercial projects still out to bid.
- The builders you have not heard of. A builder with one or two permits is often a custom builder or a small developer with no supplier lined up.
How to check a lead source before you pay for it
- Ask who else gets it. Exclusive, shared, or sold to a set number of pros?
- Ask what happens with a bad lead. Get the refund or credit policy in writing.
- Check it against jobs you already know. Look up a few recent jobs in your area and see whether the source has them.
- For permit data, ask four things: which towns are covered, whether the builder name and job value are included, how soon after month-end the file arrives, and whether you can try it first.
Trade by trade, see what the permits look like in your town on the permit pages by city, or read how pool contractors use them.
Questions people ask
- What are the best platforms to find contractor leads online?
- It depends on the job you want. Pay-per-lead marketplaces (such as Angi and Thumbtack) and Google Local Services Ads bring homeowner requests; directories such as Houzz and BuildZoom bring people comparing contractors; bid boards such as PlanHub and Dodge bring commercial projects out to bid. Building-permit data shows every job already happening, and in the Indianapolis metro County Permit Reports compiles it monthly.
- What are the best lead generation services for small construction businesses?
- A small contractor usually does best with one source that brings quote requests and one that shows the local market. Permit data is the second kind: it names the builders and jobs in your towns, including the many small builders who pull one permit a month and are not being called by anyone.
- How do I find quality leads for remodeling contractors?
- Start with where remodels actually happen. In September 2026 the Indianapolis metro filed 587 remodel and addition permits, 262 of them in Indianapolis, with a median declared value of $50,000. Put your marketing in the towns where the bigger jobs cluster before you buy anyone’s leads.
- What are common pricing models for contractor lead providers?
- Four models cover most of the market: pay per lead (marketplaces and local search ads), pay for placement (directories), a subscription to a bid board, and a subscription to permit data. County Permit Reports is a subscription: from $99 a month per report.
- How much do exclusive contractor leads cost?
- Prices vary by trade, market and provider, so get a quote in writing. Exclusive leads cost more than shared ones because one contractor pays for the whole lead. Permit data is different again: a flat monthly price for every permitted job in the area, shared with anyone who subscribes.
- How can I verify the quality of contractor leads before buying?
- Ask who else receives each lead, what the refund policy is for bad leads, and test the source against a few jobs you already know about. For permit data, ask which towns are covered and whether the builder name and job value are included.
- Where can I find local new construction project leads?
- New-home and commercial building permits are the earliest public record of local new construction. In the Indianapolis metro, September 2026 brought 543 new-home permits and 241 commercial permits; County Permit Reports puts all of them in one monthly file.
- Are there free resources for finding new development permits?
- Yes. Every town’s building department publishes its permits for free, through a portal, a spreadsheet or a records request. The cost is time: a metro like Indianapolis means checking more than twenty towns in different formats every month.
- Where can I get a free trial for a contractor lead service?
- County Permit Reports offers a 7-day free trial on every plan. A card is required, and you can cancel any time during the trial without being charged.
See the permits in your trade
New Homes, Commercial, Remodel or Pool — every permit in the Indianapolis metro, every month. Try any report free for 7 days.
Pick a report →