Should I list my Flipper now (Winter) or wait until early Spring?

[Adam Soyak]

My first house flip will be completed by the end of December.  I was planning on putting it on the market at completion, but I have been told by others to wait until February/March to list it due to buyers not typically biting during the winter months.  It is located in New Lenox, Illinois (SW suburb of Chicago).  Current inventory is low for the 200k-250k homes.  I'm anticipating my home in the 230k-250k range.

In addition, currently the property is in need of a new paved driveway, sidewalk, and landscaping, Do the winter weather I am unable to complete at this time. 

1. If I am listing now do I include that a driveway, sidewalk, and landscaping will be  completed in the spring for the new owner and include those adds in my asking price?  Or do I lower my asking price to exclude those items?

2.  Do I wait to list for early spring?  I can handle the holding costs for $4k for the next 3 months, but will it be worth the wait?

Thank you everyone!

[J Scott]

Originally posted by @Adam Soyak:

Thanks everyone!  Seems like the majority say list it!  That's what I will do!  I'll let you know the results.

If you make all your decisions based on majority opinion, you're gonna throwaway a lot of money in this business...

It's really not that tough to run the numbers yourself and come to a conclusion.

When I was flipping in Milwaukee -- not too far from you -- prices would increase between 18-22% (depending on the year) between dead of winter and beginning of summer. Holding/winterization costs were about .7% of ARV per month. Our IRR was much higher holding for an extra 2-4 months. For us, selling in December would have been throwing a lot of money out the window.

Not saying your numbers would be the same or that you should do something different than what you're doing, but part of being a businessman/entrepreneur is knowing your numbers better than anyone else -- you aren't doing that.