Do you own or want to own rental real estate? Are you taking advantage of the recent tax reform to minimize your tax liability?

This is part 3 of a 3-part series on readying yourself to purchase real estate. 

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on readying yourself to purchase real estate.  If you are still saving money for a down payment, you may also want to read part 1 of the series on ways to help you reach your down payment savings goals.

When my wife and I purchased our first property, we had no idea what to expect or how to prepare, but we learned a few things while going through the process. Some of the tips listed below will show up in any article you read about the first-time home buying experience and others will not. Nonetheless, these are the things we wish we knew before going down the escrow gauntlet.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on readying yourself to purchase real estate.

1. Can I convert a portion of my IRA to a Roth IRA?
Most people assume that if you convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you must convert the entire Traditional IRA balance. However, you can decide how much of your Traditional IRA you want to convert to a Roth IRA rather than converting the entire amount all at once. There are benefits to converting gradually because when you convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you must report the converted value as income and pay tax. The option to gradually convert can be especially helpful if you have a large traditional IRA balance and you don't want to report the entire amount as income in one year, but would instead prefer to spread your tax liability over a few years. Just remember to complete IRS form 8606 when doing the conversion to accurately capture cost basis.