Nathaniel "Nate" Whittle is a Williams College alumnus with a BA in economics. He is concurrently studying for his actuarial exams and working with the landscaping installation crew at Seedlings Gardening in Austin, Texas. Over the last few years, Nathaniel Whittle has gathered an expertise in a variety of professional settings that spans the financial and real estate industries.

Real estate flippers purchase homes with the purpose of owning them for a short time - usually three to four months - before flipping them for a profit. They are not the same as landlords who purchase properties as long-term investments. The most significant risk connected with flipping is that flippers may not be able to sell the home for a profit at a target time.

When it comes to flipping a house, there are two main strategies - repair and update, and hold and resell. Repair and update, as the name indicates, is purchasing a property that can grow in value with specific repairs and modifications. The flipper renovates the home as soon as possible and sells it for more than they've spent on it.

The strategy of holding and reselling takes a different approach. Rather than purchasing and renovating a home, the flipper purchases a property in a fast-rising market, holds it for a few months, and then sells for a profit.