How do you find the ideal purpose for a property?

[Kyle Carter]

How do you evaluate if a property is ideal for flipping or if you should keep it as a rental? I never understood why people would have a flip, boost the value by tens of thousands of dollars, then sell it as opposed to keeping the equity and putting a tenant in there. 

Is it situation based? I would like to get an opinion before I purchase my first property in about a month.