Hello, plumbers.
How to find plumbing leads
Start a free week1986
Homes built before this year are more likely to have lead pipes
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Read November 12, 2026
The list shows people who bought a home to live in it. A row is one home purchase and can name more than one buyer.
Each row carries a mailing name, address, sale price and deed date.
Where plumbing leads come from
Plumbing work comes in from a handful of paid channels: pay-per-lead and pay-per-call marketplaces, Google Local Services Ads, monthly ad budgets on review platforms, and saturation mail.
| Source | Pays for | Published price | Shared or exclusive |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS Every Door Direct Mail | Postage per piece | $0.26 per piece | Does not apply |
| Service Direct | Each call or form lead | $60 to $255 | Exclusive (no published terms) |
| Thumbtack | Each lead, price set by the pro | Not published | Shared with up to 5 pros |
| Angi (HomeAdvisor) | Leads by subscription, per lead or bundle | Not published | Shared with multiple pros |
| Networx | Each lead | Not published | Exclusive (no published terms) |
| Porch | Each project request or subscription | Not published | Shared with up to 4 pros |
| Modernize | Each lead, call or live transfer | Not published | Shared with up to 4 pros |
| Google Local Services Ads | Each valid lead, auction priced | Not published | You are chosen directly; customer may contact others |
| Yelp Ads | Monthly ad budget | From $150 a month | Does not apply |
| Nextdoor | Ads or monthly alerts subscription | Not published | Does not apply |
USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is a postal service: you pay postage per piece and every household on a carrier route gets one.
Service Direct's Marketplace program gives you 7 days from when the lead comes in to ask for a review. The platform counts missed calls and voicemail as billable leads. You set your own price above the platform's minimum.
Thumbtack puts a limit on how many pros a single customer can reach in the first 4 hours. Thumbtack refunds the lead automatically when the customer goes 72 hours without replying to any pro they contacted. Networx uses the word exclusive in its sign-up page title but publishes no terms that define it.
Plumbing is an urgent category under Google Local Services Ads rules, which means extra background checks for the business.
Yelp Ads is an ad placement budget. A Request a Quote project, which is a separate Yelp product, goes to multiple businesses. Nextdoor's Opportunity Alerts notify you by text or email when a neighbor post mentions a service need.
New homeowners and plumbing work
Recent homebuyers spend about 35% more on home improvements than owners who have been in their homes more than three years, a difference Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies measured after controlling for age and income.
That figure covers all home improvements, not plumbing specifically.
A standard home inspection checks the water heater's
- energy source,
- venting connections
- and relief valve,
but the inspector is not required to measure the heater's
- age,
- life expectancy
- or capacity.
ENERGY STAR advises homeowners to consider replacing a water heater they suspect is more than 10 years old, before it fails.
Signs of a failing unit include
- visible corrosion,
- leaks from joints or seams,
- rust in the water
- and rumbling noises.
Household leaks can waste more than 9,300 gallons a year, and fixing common ones cuts water bills by about 10%. Worn toilet flappers are among the most common sources of household leaks, and the EPA's WaterSense program recommends replacing them at least every 5 years.
Older homes and lead service lines
The EPA says lead pipes are more common in homes built before 1986. In homes with a lead service line, that pipe is typically the largest source of lead in the water.
Testing is the only sure way to find out whether drinking water contains harmful lead. A certified lab test costs $20 to $100.
New single-family houses sold nationwide, 2025
A house counts in the month its contract is signed or its deposit accepted, not at closing. Not seasonally adjusted; existing homes (resales) not included.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development via FRED, series HSN1FNSA Read November 12, 2026
Show table
| Month | New single-family houses sold nationwide, 2025 |
|---|---|
| January | 56,000 |
| February | 56,000 |
| March | 63,000 |
| April | 65,000 |
| May | 56,000 |
| June | 57,000 |
| July | 53,000 |
| August | 57,000 |
| September | 58,000 |
| October | 48,000 |
| November | 52,000 |
| December | 56,000 |
Plumbing marketing by mail: a sample plan
- The list arrives Monday at 8am, in each market's own time zone.
- Where rows show year built, filter to homes from before 1986 or another target year.
- USPS delivers First-Class Mail in 1 to 5 days. Lob's smallest First-Class postcard on the free plan costs $0.905 per piece, print and postage together, and arrives in 5 to 7 business days.
- The calendar has timing hooks that pair with a new owner mailing: EPA's Fix a Leak Week in March; winter, when frozen-pipe advisories go out; spring, when WaterSense recommends checking an irrigation system before the first use.
What it costs to mail new homeowners
Take your monthly count of new owners from the ZIP codes you pick, divide the Local plan price by that number, and add one postcard.
Example Enter how many new owners a month you expect in the ZIP codes you would buy. An estimate is fine. The Coverage page links each covered county, and county and city pages show counts for the last 90 days and the last 12 months. Divide the first by three or the second by twelve for a monthly figure. A county's or city's count covers every ZIP in it, so take your ZIP codes' share.
Starts at $0.905, Lob's four-by-six-inch First-Class card on the free plan. Type your own cost to change it.
Replace with your own numbers to see your costs.
- Local plan, per month
- $49
- List cost per new owner
- = $49 ÷ new owners
- List plus postcard, per new owner
- = $49 ÷ new owners + $0.905
- Monthly total, list and postcards
- = $49 + $0.905 × new owners
Common questions about plumbing marketing
- What does a home inspection say about the water heater?
A standard inspection covers the energy source, venting connections and relief valve. The inspector isn't required to report the heater's age or how many years it has left.
- Can I filter the list to older homes only?
Yes, in areas that add year built to each row from local records, and the Coverage page lists those areas.
- Does the list tell me whether a home has a lead service line?
No. Year built, where a row has it, is as close as the list comes. No row says if a home has a lead service line. Only a certified lab test can say whether the water contains lead; tests run $20 to $100.
- How do you get plumbing leads without paying per lead?
Profiles on Google, Yelp and Nextdoor are free to create and maintain. Google lets you ask customers for reviews, as long as you don't offer a reward. Yelp bans review requests. Nextdoor lets neighbors recommend your business by sharing a Fave link.
- What are some plumbing marketing ideas for reaching new homeowners?
A card for an older home can note that the standard inspection doesn't have to measure the water heater's age and that a lead test costs $20 to $100. A leak-check card fits EPA's Fix a Leak Week in March. It can also carry WaterSense's recommendation to replace flappers at least every 5 years.
- How fresh is the list?
Every row carries the deed date, so you can see exactly how old each record is.
Sample row
This row is made up. It carries no real person, address or sale. Year built, square feet and permit history are filled only where a county or city publishes them.
Example
- Recorded
recorded_date - 2026-11-10
- Deed date
deed_date - 2026-11-02
- Mailing name
mailing_name - Pat and Casey Sample
- Address
address - 500 Example Ln
- City
city - Sampletown
- State
state - XX
- ZIP
zip - 00000
- Unit number
has_unit_number - no
- Condo unit
condo_unit - no (guessed from address)
- Sale price
price - 350000
- Year built
year_built - 1975
- Square feet
square_feet - 1600
- Last roof permit
last_roof_permit - not covered
- Last HVAC permit
last_hvac_permit - not covered
- County
county - Example County
- Source
data_source - Public property records, version 2026-11-12
Coverage areas
The Coverage page lists every covered area, what a row carries there, and this trade's page for each state.
Other trades
Get the weekly list
The free trial is one week of one ZIP code.