How long should I live in my home before selling? Two Years
Here's why: If you live in your home as your primary residence for at least two of the past five years, you don't have to pay capital gains taxes on up to $250,000 ($500,000 for married couples) on the profit of your sale.
Let’s put some numbers to that: Say you purchased your home in 2015 for $550,000. You sold it last month for $645,000.
Because it was your full-time residence for two of the past five years you don’t have to pay capital gains tax on your $95,000 profit. That equals $14,250 (since the capital gains tax rate is 15% for most taxpayers)!
I’m no tax expert so you’ll want to run the details of your situation by an accountant or tax lawyer but man, that’s almost 14K more in your pocket if you just stick it out for two years!