Pension / Self Directed IRA question

[Nick Stango]

My wife and I are thinking about moving to another state so we can invest in real estate more easily. We want to buy a duplex, live in one half and rent the other. In order to get a loan to do this (since I am self employed) we may need to go with a private lender as opposed to a conventional mortgage, so we would need a larger down payment. The money we will get from the sale of our house will cover most if not all of this money needed, but we were concerned with not having any other money to invest after purchasing the first duplex. My wife has a pension where she works and we were wondering if we could put that into a self directed IRA and use it to invest in real estate, and if so how would that work. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Nick