Sales of additional home

[peterf1]

Hi - I was divorced a number of years ago and had to move from Oregon to California for work. In order to be able to be with my kids, I purchased a condo close to where they lived and visited on weekends. As the kids got older and one moved to California, it didn't make sense to keep it and I couldn't afford it, so I sold it in 2019. Would this qualify for a main home and, therefore, the tax exclusion for the sale of a home (pub. 523 mentions "The home is near: 1. Where you work, 2. Where you bank, 3. The residence of one or more family members...")? I never rented it and owned it for more than 5 years.

Peter

[NCperson]

the issue isn't so much if you owned it for 5 years and never rented it. 

the issue is really where you lived.  you must have LIVED in that residence for 2 of the last 5 years and the nights don't have to be consecutive.  

And you can only have one primary home at a time.  where did you live the rest of the time?  Your subject line states "sale of additional home" so does that mean you owned a home that you lived in the other 5 days a week? 

from what you shared, if you only lived in this condo for 2 of every 7 days over the past 5 years and didn't work near it , it doesn't appear you will meet the rule for the capital gains exemption.

[peterf1]

Hi - thanks for the reply. I worked in CA (rented).

Regards,

Peter

[NCperson · Accepted solution]

my thoughts remain the same, even though it was your only home your owned:  the rented home / apartment in CA was your primary residence so that the home you sold does not qualify for the capital gains exclusion.