1. Primary residence, do I count the years I lived there as a primary residence from 2007 - 2013 when it was a joint property? Or just start from 2013 when I took ownership.
When you took ownership But don't bother. You did not live in the property as your primary residence for the required 2 years of the last 5 years you owned it. So you don't qualify for any sort of capital gains exclusion. Unless you have other extenuating circumstances that occurred you wouldn't qualify for any of the exceptions for a partial exemption either.
To be more precise, you are required to live in the property as your primary residence for at least 730 days of the last 1826 days you owned it, counting back from the closing date of the sale. The required 730 days do not have to be consecutive either.
2. Do I need to pay any taxes directly after the close? or can I just pay taxes at tax time?
That's your call. But to avoid any hassles and having to deal with underpayment penalties, I usually recommend you send the IRS as least 20% of your taxable gain. That will, for the most part, ensure you don't owe taxes at tax time. But the percentage you elect to go with depends on other factors such as what tax bracket the gain will bump you into, as well as any other taxes you pay already, such as the withholding tax on any W-2 income you may receive.
3. How much can I expect to pay in capital gains, and how can I minimize the taxes.
It depends on what tax bracket those gains bump you into. See https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2022 for the 2022 tax bracket and rates.
4. How can depreciation that I have been paying help me minimize / or impact how much I owe.
When you sell the property, you are required to recapture all depreciation taken. If you didn't depreciate the property, you are still required to recapture the depreciation you should have taken. You will be taxed at the ordinary income tax rate on recaptured depreciation. Take note that recaptured depreciation is added to and therefore increases your overall AGI - which can change the tax bracket you fall into.
5. The condo basically operated at a loss until the end of 2021 and has been with no income since Jan.
I doubt you actually operated at a loss. But when it comes to taxes, it's common to show a loss "on paper" at tax filing time. Remember, the principle part of your mortgage payment is taxable income. But that's usually offset by the depreciation you're required to take. So "on paper" at tax time, it's common for rental property to show a loss.
If you were not at least actively trying to rent the property, then you should covert the property back to personal use with a conversion date of at least Jan 1, 2022 so as to stop depreciation.
I spent around 20k in renovating before sale. Is there a way to write-off any of the reno costs?
Your renovation cost are referred to as property improvements in IRS parlance. Those property improvements add to your cost basis in the property. If these improvements were completed after the last renter moved out, then assuming you convert the property to personal use, you do not enter them as assets on the SCH E since they were never placed in service as a rental asset. (Unless you were "in fact" actively trying to rent the property until you at least get s signed "contract to commit to purchase" from a buyer.
Be aware there's a lot of detail I'm not going into here, as I have limited information provided by you to work with. But since this sale has not yet occurred and the details won't come into play until you actually start your 2022 tax return, all I'm doing is answering the questions asked to the best of my knowledge and ability without making any assumptions.
