--- title: "Roof Replacement Leads: Work the Homes Nobody Has Called" description: "Where roof replacement leads come from, how to find aging roofs before other roofers do, and the Florida rules that shape the re-roof conversation." published: "2026-11-06" canonical: "https://www.theroofidentifier.com/blog/roof-replacement-leads" author: "Everitt Gill" --- Roof replacement leads are homeowners who need a new roof and whom your company can reach. They come two ways: inbound leads, where the homeowner already asked for quotes, and owned prospects, where you find homes with aging roofs before anyone calls. A healthy re-roof pipeline uses both and puts most of its door time on the second. Picture a homeowner off Hodges Boulevard who fills out a quote form at 7 a.m. By lunch, three roofers have called her. Two streets over, her neighbor's roof is just as old, and he hasn't called anybody. He is the better lead, and no lead site will ever sell him to you, because he never raised his hand. ## What counts as a roof replacement lead? A roof replacement lead is any homeowner whose roof is near the end of its life and whom your company can contact, whether or not they have asked for a quote yet. ![Two column comparison of inbound roof replacement leads and owned prospects, showing who starts each, competition, speed to a signed job and what you pay for](https://yfvhnfihkflbnivhcgge.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/customer-da9bba825f4376e010105504/roof-replacement-leads/figure-1.svg) Inbound leads are the ones most roofers think of first: shared leads from lead sites, Google ads and LSA calls, referrals, website forms. They are fast. The homeowner is ready to talk. The catch is that you pay per lead or per click, and on a shared lead you are racing other companies to the same phone. Owned prospects work the other way. You decide which streets to work, and you show up before the homeowner starts shopping. | | Inbound lead | Owned prospect | |---|---|---| | Who starts it | The homeowner | Your company | | Competition | Often several roofers | Usually just you | | Speed to a signed job | Fast | Slower, steadier | | What you pay for | Each lead | Your list, mail and canvassing time | Good operators run both. Inbound fills this week's calendar. Owned prospecting fills next month's. ## What's the best way to get roofing leads for re-roof work? Keep your inbound sources running for speed, and build an owned list of aging roofs in your ZIP so your canvassers and mailers only go to streets where replacements are actually due. The common mistake is mailing or knocking a whole ZIP. Any Duval ZIP, in Arlington or on the Westside, can mix houses roofed last year with houses still on their original shingles, and a door hanger costs the same on both. Narrow the route first. Forty doors on a street where most roofs are original will beat forty doors picked at random. The other mistake is judging sources by cost per lead. A cheap lead that three roofers chase can cost more per signed job than a mailer to the right 200 homes. Our roofing leads guide walks through every source and the cost-per-signed-job math in detail, so this post stays on the aging-roof side. ## How do you find homes whose roofs are likely due? Start with the age of the house and its permit history: a home that shows no full re-roof permit in many years, or none since it was built, is the first door worth knocking. County property and permit records are the usual place to look up both: when the house was built, and whether a roofing permit has been pulled at that address since. Put the two side by side and a street sorts itself into roofs that were replaced recently and roofs that are still the original. Then work by subdivision, not by single address. Homes built by one builder in the same few years tend to age together, so where one roof is due, the neighbors' roofs often are too. That gives a crew a tight route and a natural opener: you are already working the street. Then check the street itself. A walk down the block will confirm what the records suggested: curling tabs, granule loss, patched sections that do not match. ## How does Florida's 15-year roof rule affect re-roof sales? Florida's rule gives a homeowner with a roof at least 15 years old the chance to have it inspected before an insurer can require replacement. The statute says the insurer must allow [an inspection by an authorized inspector at the homeowner's expense](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0627/Sections/0627.7011.html) before requiring replacement of a roof that is at least 15 years old. If that inspection shows [5 or more years of useful life remaining](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0627/Sections/0627.7011.html), the insurer may not refuse to issue or renew the policy solely because of roof age. For your sales conversation, that makes a 15-year-old roof a reason to talk. A homeowner on an aging street may be hearing about the roof from an insurer and want a straight answer about its condition. A careful inspection and a clear written report earn that trust. Never tell a homeowner that Florida law requires a new roof at 15 years. It does not. Leave coverage questions to the homeowner's insurance agent. ## What can you offer a homeowner in exchange for an inspection? Nothing of value: Florida bars contractors from offering a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of any insurance deductible, or any other thing of value in exchange for a roof inspection or for making a roof insurance claim. That rule sits in [Florida Statutes section 489.147](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0489/Sections/0489.147.html), and a contractor can face [up to a $10,000 fine for each violation](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0489/Sections/0489.147.html). Check your door hangers, mailers and canvassing scripts against it. What you can offer is your work: a prompt inspection, photos of what you found, a written estimate, and a crew that shows up when it says it will. On a list of aging roofs, you are often the first roofer the homeowner has talked to, and that kind of service is what they remember when they pick a company. ## When should you work a list of aging roofs? Work it all year, and plan around the [Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to November 30](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/), so you are known on your streets before storm work fills the calendar. Too many roofers treat storm season as the only selling season and go quiet the rest of the year. The months outside the season are when a homeowner with an old roof has time to think about it, and when your crews have time to knock. Build routes and send mail then. When storm work does come, the homeowners on those streets already know your company's name. ## How can I get free leads for my roofing business? The free sources are the ones you build yourself: referrals from past customers, yard signs and neighbor knocks around every job you install, and a prospect list pulled from public property and permit records. None of them cost money per lead. They cost time, and they compound. Every re-roof you finish is a reason to knock the five houses on either side, and the ones built the same year are good candidates to need you next. If you would rather start from a ranked list than pull records yourself, Roof Identifier ranks Duval County homes by how likely the roof is due for replacement, and Territory Lock holds each ZIP for one roofer at a time. Ask for a free ZIP Roof Report for your ZIP, or check whether your ZIP is still open.