“So if you lived and owned the home for 3 years, and you were to move to the new home today, as long as you sold the 1st home within a year, you could still say you owned and lived in it for 2 of the past 5 years.”
Don’t you mean as long as I sell the first home within 2 years in your example for the maximum ownership period of 5 years?
I’m referring to Publication 523 (2022), Selling Your Home (
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523#:~:text=If%20you%20own%20and%20live,factors%20are%20relevant%2...)
I think you’re only looking at the “Eligibility Test” for maximum exclusion of gain on the above link.
If you read the above link, there’s also some “preliminary items” which includes the scenario of multiple homes: “If you own or live in more than one home, then you must apply a “facts and circumstances” test to determine which property is your main home.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but what what you’re saying is the “facts and circumstances” test is not relevant and it wouldn’t matter (still would qualify for capital gains exclusion) if I changed my address (e.g postal, license, voter registration card, etc.) to my new home address immediately after closing on it and moving in?
It doesn’t appear the IRS explicitly distinguishes between the words “primary,” “principle,” and “main home”; they all mean the same thing.
