Nitty gritty of the 2/5 year rule

[Elizebeth Tucker]

I moved out of my primary residence in May 2018 and turned it into a rental. I plan to sell it this spring in order to avoid capital gains on my profit. I’m suddenly feeling really stressed about the timeline. My tenant’s lease started on May 15, 2018, and that is the day I moved out.   What if I have a seller who can’t close until late May? How stringent is this rule, really, and what documentation might the IRS require for me to prove that I lived there for exactly 2 of the last 5 years (versus for 23 of the last 60 months)? I have no interest in committing fraud and want to know how panicked I should be over accelerating my timeline, or if I can breathe just a tiny bit on that date.