Find Homeowners Pulling Permits for Big Projects

Overview

A residential permit is a homeowner who just committed to spending real money on their property. Someone pulling a permit for a pool, an addition, a new roof, or a major remodel is about to make a cascade of related decisions — landscaping, financing, insurance, adjacent trades, furnishings. The businesses that reach them while the project is live catch them in a rare buying window.

This Hound watches residential permit filings across your area, filters for the project types that signal a fit for what you offer, finds the homeowner, and opens the conversation while the work is underway.

How to set it up

Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.

A · Describe the opportunity

This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria.

Tell Forest what you're looking for:

"I'm looking for homeowners in my service area who just pulled a permit for a significant home project — the kind of work that means they're actively investing in the property and will need related services. For me that's [pools / additions / roofing / solar / major remodels]. I want them while the project is live. Match to my target project types and neighborhoods. Skip minor repairs, commercial permits, and low-value cosmetic work."

Keywords to watch for: pool · addition · remodel · new roof · solar · ADU · kitchen renovation · finished basement · [your project types] · [your neighborhoods]

Fields to extract: property_address · permit_type · project_value · owner_name · contractor · filed_date · jurisdiction · project_scope

Match criteria:

• ✓ Permit type matches your target work (pool, addition, roof, solar, etc.)

• ✓ Project value above your minimum

• ✓ Property in your service area

• ✗ Exclude minor repairs and cosmetic permits

B · Choose the sources to monitor

Like commercial permits, residential filings are local and public — you point Forest at your region's permit portal and it watches for the project types in your brief.

Public permit portals (bring your own link) 🔵 free — public government pages

How to find yours: Search "[your city or county] building permit search". Pick the official .gov result that lists recently issued permits and paste it. Filter within your brief for the residential project types you want. If your county publishes an open-data portal (data.[city].gov, often Socrata), that's usually the cleanest and most complete.

Examples:

• Los Angeles, CA — pcts.lacity.gov

• Austin, TX — abc.austintexas.gov

• Chicago, IL — data.cityofchicago.org (building permits dataset)

• Mecklenburg County, NC — mecknc.gov (permit search)

Tip: Many jurisdictions run on Accela (*.accela.com), Tyler EnerGov, or OpenGov — once you've added one, the same pattern often covers neighboring towns.

News & Press 🟡 default source, always on — less central for residential permits, but Forest can watch local home-and-garden or development press against your brief for larger renovation trends.

C · Define the ICP to reach

Who to reach for each permit.

1. Property Owner — Primary — the homeowner doing the project — PRIMARY

2. General Contractor on the permit — Secondary, if you sell to the trade rather than the owner

3. (Choose primary based on whether you sell to homeowners or contractors)

D · Email & LinkedIn sequence

The play the Hound runs for each match. Direct-to-homeowner, so tone stays warm and helpful. Fields drop in as variables.

Email · Day 0 Hi {{owner_name}} — saw you're doing a {{project_scope}} at {{property_address}}. Exciting project. We work with homeowners on {{your_offering}} that pairs really well with this kind of work, and timing it alongside the project usually saves money and hassle. Worth a quick chat?

↓ Wait 3 days · no reply

Follow-up · Day 3 Following up on your {{project_scope}} — happy to send a couple of examples of how we've helped neighbors with similar projects. No pressure, just here if it's useful.

↓ Wait 4 days · no reply

Email · Day 7 · follow-up Last note — if {{your_offering}} ends up on your list as the project moves along, I'd love to help. Best of luck with the work at {{property_address}}.

⏸ Any reply pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours. (Forest checks the Do Not Contact list before any outreach.)