You moved away. The house is still in Texas.

IRS Publication 523 allows you to exclude up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of your main home, or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, if you meet the eligibility test. Gain above that, or gain that does not qualify, is taxable.

You must have owned the home for at least 24 months and lived in it as your main home for at least 24 months during the 5 years before the sale. The months do not have to be consecutive. You also cannot have excluded gain on another home sale within the 2 years before.

The 5-year window moves forward with the sale date. If you lived in the house from January 2021 to January 2024, those last 24 months of use (January 2022 to January 2024) stay inside the window only for a sale closing by about January 2027. After that, you may lose the full exclusion. This is the arithmetic of the rule; a CPA should confirm your exact dates.

Under 26 U.S.C. 121(b)(5), time after the last date you used the home as your main residence, within the 5-year window, is not counted as nonqualified use. Depreciation you claimed or could have claimed for rental use after May 6, 1997, however, cannot be excluded and is taxed when you sell, according to Publication 523.

If you or your spouse served on qualified official extended duty, meaning active duty for more than 90 days or an indefinite period at a duty station at least 50 miles from the home or in government quarters, you may choose to suspend the 5-year test period for up to 10 years. The suspension plus the 5-year period cannot exceed 15 years.

If you sold before meeting the 2-year tests mainly because of a work-related move where the new job is at least 50 miles farther from the home than the old one, Publication 523 says you may qualify for a partial exclusion. Health reasons and certain unforeseeable events can also qualify.

Ask your agent for a live video tour before anything else: every room, the roof line, the yard, the AC unit and the water heater label. You will see what buyers will see and make decisions on facts, not memory.

Have your agent coordinate licensed contractors and send you written quotes with photos before and after. Approve in writing by email or text so every change has a record. With my construction and remodeling background, I can help you separate repairs that matter to buyers and lenders from ones that do not.

Use an electronic lockbox, keep electricity, water and gas on for inspections as the TREC resale contract requires during the contract, and arrange regular checks if the house is empty.

Contracts, counteroffers and repair amendments are usually signed electronically. Make sure your agent has a phone number and email that reach you quickly in your new time zone, since option periods and deadlines in the TREC contract run on calendar days.

The deed and closing documents must be notarized. You can sign with a notary where you live, through a durable power of attorney given to someone in Texas, or, if the title company accepts it, with a Texas online notary; the Texas Secretary of State says the online notary must be in Texas while the signer may be anywhere.

Proceeds are usually wired by the title company. Verify wiring instructions by calling the title company at a number you find yourself, never one sent in an email.