Tax Question: Residence to Rental, sold then bought another

[Jason Hill]

Hi all...looking for some general guidance here if I may...

I purchased a home in 2001, lived in it for 2 years til ‘03, and converted to rental. Standard 30yr mortgage.

I never even knew to deduct depreciation until ~2014 when I finally began to expand into more real investment oops (have a total of 4 rentals now). I went 11 years without claiming the depreciation on taxes for that property. Fast forward to Nov 2019, I sold that property and bought another (nicer) property at auction 2 days later.

When I closed in December, the title agent mentioned, if you lived in it, you “shouldn’t” owe capital gains. Also, I believe my “like-kind” purchase shortly after the sale of the property should also (or alternatively) allow me to avoid capital gains. Thoughts?

Another nuance is, back to limited depreciation claim), as I’m using software (credit karma) for taxes, as I’ve attempted to navigate through, in question form I was asked to report “allowable depreciation”. I only claimed it to offset income for a few years. If I DO in fact owe capital gains, MUST I report total “allowable” depreciation or just what I claimed on taxes over last few years?

Sorry for rambling...Ive looked around for similar circumstances but haven’t found anything.

Thanks so much even if general advice (not to be construed as tax advice).

Thanks,

Jason