Quote from @Eric Gerakos: My wife and I buy many “fractional” notes where we live in California.

For the son to qualify for the $250k exclusion, I believe he would most likely need to meet the ownership and use test, meaning he needs to own and live in the home as his primary residence for at least two of the last five years before the sale.

My wife and I use to live in central GA and in North Carolina but moved out to Arizona a couple years ago.

The auctions, although online now, are live foreclosure auctions, i.e. the auction style sale which is the culmination of the foreclosure process. 

You could bring less down and possibly have a lower interest rate since you will be living there.

We live in San Diego so would be long-distance, TBD if we self-manage or enlist a PM. 

I have lived in the US for about 10 years. 

Your primary residence - if you've lived in it for 2 out of the 5 years prior to selling you'll get the $250K/$500K tax free iike @Clint Galliano said. 

(For context, it's a 2700 sf 4 bd 3 bath house in an upscale Northern California suburb.)Kitchen A: Traditional, features a 48 in fridge, 36 in cooktop, window sink (no view), pantry.Kitchen B: Designer, features a 60 in fridge, 48 in range, large kitchen window (no view), sink facing living/dining room; unfortunately no pantryKitchen C: A Little Bit of Both, features a 48 in fridge, 48 in range, sink facing living/dining room, pantry, unfortunately there's no window.Total countertop space is roughly the same (22 ft)  in all three layouts.

Will you potentially be more at peace if you sell and buy an investment property that you have never lived in personally?