"Is there a list of what's considered improvements (i.e. appliances, landscaping, lawn maintenance)."
You can find a list of common improvements on page 9 of this IRS publication:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p523.pdf
Note that ordinary maintenance is not an "improvement". Also, repairs are not improvements..
In order to qualify for the capital gain exclusion, you must have owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least two years of the five-year period leading up to the date of sale. The two years do not have to be continuous. NJ and the IRS have the same criteria.
Any taxable gain you have from the sale will be taxable by NJ, as well as by the IRS, regardless of your residency at the time of the sale.
**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.
