Understand that the income tax benefit is NOT a "capital gain tax" of 0%, it's an amount of gain that can be EXCLUDED in reporting the gain on sale. The current amounts are $250K/$500K depending on filing status. California has conformed to the federal tax law in this area. Too, California has no special "capital gains" tax; all income is taxed at "ordinary" income tax rates.
Your adjusted basis in calculating the gain will include the depreciation you took - or should have taken - during the rental period and will be taxed at special "recapture" rates.
The periods of time that you reported the house as a rental in your income tax return - seemingly something like 11/1/2012 to 12/1/2015 - you should be able to derive pretty closely from the Schedule E Worksheets you prepared for the years that the house was a rental.
Selling expenses such as Realtor commissions and the like are deducted from the selling price of the home to determine the net proceeds from sale. Costs associated with improvements and remodeling are added to the home's original cost as part of the process of figuring out the adjusted basis.
