Angi, Thumbtack or Your Own Search: Where Florida Roofers Should Spend Before the Next Storm Season

01 / 08

What is the difference between a shared lead, an exclusive lead and owned search?

A shared lead is a homeowner request that more than one roofer receives. An exclusive lead is a request only you receive. Owned search is a homeowner who found your business by name, through your site, profile or reviews, and contacted you directly. The first two are bought one at a time; the third is built once and keeps paying.

The marketplaces are explicit about sharing. Angi says that each time a homeowner submits a project request, it matches them "with no more than five pros" (Angi Help Center, 2026). Thumbtack limits the number of pros a customer can contact to five in the first four hours of a search (Thumbtack Help, 2026).

None of the three top-ranking comparison pages we read for this question mentions Florida, hurricanes or storms (our read of three pages, 2026). For a Florida roofer, that is the part that decides the answer.

02 / 08

Who owns the customer record on a marketplace and on your own website?

On a marketplace the homeowner's request starts on the platform, and you receive the contact when the platform makes the connection. On your own website the homeowner calls or writes to you, so the first record is yours. Either way, the roofer who saves every won customer into their own system owns the relationship that brings the next job.

Angi's lead is a connection: once both sides show interest, the pro is charged the lead fee and receives the homeowner's name, location, project details and contact information (Angi Help Center, 2026). Angi also charges for leads "whether or not you open or respond to them" (Angi Help Center, 2026).

Thumbtack's direct leads come from customers who found you in their search results and contacted you, and you pay your set lead price automatically when one arrives (Thumbtack Help, 2026). The conversation then runs in Thumbtack's Messages tab.

Both models are written plainly in the platforms' own help pages. What matters is after the job: a reroof customer who exists only as a thread inside an app will look there first next time. Our roofing contractor SEO page covers outranking the marketplaces in search.

03 / 08

How does Florida's storm calendar change where a roofer should spend?

It moves the deadline. Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10, so demand for roof repair rises when everyone else needs a roofer too. Marketplace pricing follows demand, while owned search pages take months to rank, so the owned side has to be built before June, not during a surge.

The season runs "June 1 to November 30" (NOAA National Hurricane Center, 2026). A roofer who starts building pages in August competes for attention with every crew in the state.

Both marketplaces say their prices move with conditions. Angi says lead pricing varies with "task, homeowner location, and demand for the work" (Angi Help Center, 2026). Thumbtack says a job's value, and so its lead price, can change with "how many pros are available, and your market" (Thumbtack Help, 2026). After a storm, demand rises and so can a lead's price.

After a declared emergency, a homeowner may cancel a roof contract signed within 180 days of it, within 10 days or by the official start date (Florida Statutes 489.147, 2026).

For timing by city, see our guides to Port Charlotte roofing SEO before storm season and the Fort Myers substantial improvement rule.

04 / 08

Which Florida roofing rules can a roofer's own site explain that a marketplace profile cannot?

The ones homeowners search before they call: the 25 percent roof rule (Florida Statutes 553.844, 2026), county permit paperwork, the 2026 code change, HOA limits and what an insurance-claim ad must say. A marketplace profile is built for a short pitch and reviews. Your own site can carry a page for each rule, which careful homeowners and AI assistants both read.

On a roof built to the 2007 Florida Building Code or later, repairing "25 percent or more" requires only that portion to meet current code, and local governments may not amend this (Florida Statutes 553.844, 2026).

Collier County requires a Hurricane Mitigation Affidavit for wood roof decks permitted before September 14, 1993 on homes appraised at $300,000 or more (Collier County, 2026). The Florida Building Code, 9th Edition, takes effect December 31, 2026 (ICC Digital Codes, 2026).

HOAs may not deny roof systems recognized by the Florida Building Code that meet ASCE 7-22 standards (Florida Statutes 720.3035, 2026).

An ad urging a roof insurance claim must state, in 12-point type or larger, that the homeowner pays the deductible and that insurance fraud is a felony; fines reach $10,000 per violation (Florida Statutes 489.147, 2026). This describes the statutes, not legal advice.

05 / 08

How should a Florida roofer compare marketplace spend with SEO spend?

Compare what each dollar leaves behind. A marketplace dollar buys one contact, often shared with up to four other roofers, and stops when the budget stops. An SEO dollar buys a page, a review or a stronger profile that keeps bringing homeowners to you after the storm. Track both by cost per signed job, not cost per lead.

Count the competition first. Collier County had 52 roofing contractor establishments and Lee County 123 in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns, 2023). On a shared lead, speed of reply decides a lot, so a marketplace budget is also a staffing commitment.

Then count the market. Lee County issued 13,547 building permits in 2025 and Collier 2,736, with median owner-occupied home values of $362,200 and $540,700 (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, 2026). A reroof there is a large ticket, so homeowners read before calling.

A simple test: for the last three months, divide each source's spend by the jobs it signed, not the leads it sent, including calls from your own profile and site. If the owned side already wins jobs, grow it before June.

Our free audit shows where your own site and profile stand today.

06 / 08

Where do Local Services Ads fit between marketplaces and SEO?

In the middle. Local Services Ads are Google's pay-per-lead ads: you pay for leads related to your business and services, and Google checks the license before the ad runs. The homeowner calls or messages your business, not a pool of pros, but the leads still stop when the budget does. Treat them as rented demand with a verified badge.

Google describes the model in one line: "Pay only for leads related to your business and the services you offer" (Google Local Services Help, 2026). For licensed trades, Google says it "validates these licenses against the state or country databases" (Google Local Services Help, 2026).

That verification matters in Florida, where a roofing contractor's license covers work "unlimited in the roofing trade" (Florida Statutes 489.105, 2026) and a contract by an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable by that contractor (Florida Statutes 489.128, 2026). Homeowners have reason to look for proof.

Google is transitioning Local Services Ads to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals in Google Ads (Google Ads Help, 2026). Our hub post explains how the Local Services Ads move into Google Ads works, and what it changes for budgets and reporting.

07 / 08

What should a roofer do with marketplace leads before the next storm season?

Use them to fill the calendar, then turn every won job into an owned asset. Save the customer in your own system, ask for a Google review, add the job to a service-area page and keep the before-and-after photos. By June 1 the goal is a site and profile that bring homeowners to you without a per-lead fee.

First, move the record. On the day you win a marketplace job, enter the homeowner into your own job system with the address, roof type and date. That record is what makes the next contact possible.

Second, ask for the review where you own it. A Google review on your Business Profile helps every future search for your company; a review that lives only on a platform helps you on that platform.

Third, publish the work. A short project page for each neighborhood you reroof, with the roof type and photos, gives Google and homeowners something specific. Keep it accurate: no invented storms, no claims you cannot show.

Fourth, count back from June 1 and give new pages a few months to be found. Our roofing contractor SEO page lists what they need.

08 / 08

How do you check a marketplace's current fees before you sign?

Read the platform's own help pages, not a third-party price list, and ask for the terms in writing. Angi and Thumbtack both say lead prices vary by job, location and demand, and both let you set a budget. Check how many pros receive each request, when you are charged and what qualifies for a credit or refund.

On Angi, the monthly budget is a target dollar value of leads, and you may exceed it when a matched lead is worth more than your remaining budget (Angi Help Center, 2026). Opportunities you accept are charged in addition to that budget.

On Thumbtack, you set your own lead prices and a weekly budget (Thumbtack Help, 2026). Its Fair Shot Refunds return the lead fee if a customer does not reply to any pro within 72 hours (Thumbtack Help, 2026).

Get claims about lead quality in writing. In 2023 the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order requiring HomeAdvisor, a company affiliated with Angi, to pay up to $7.2 million in redress and barring false or misleading claims about its leads (Federal Trade Commission, 2023). Keep every promise you are sold on file.