I've never sold real estate before (I've owned my current place for 20+ years).
It has appreciated from what I paid for it (150K) to roughly 525K today (give or take).
I still have a mortgage on it (9 years left).
Now, if I sold it today, and didn't buy anything else (just rent)... do I pay cap gains on the difference? (375k)
I've heard of the 250K rule, but don't really understand how it fits in, and if that is only if you buy another place within a year?
Now part 2 of my question, and this is where it gets interesting.
What if I subdivide my property, and sell half of it -- for say... 275K, and keep the other half and live in it. How do I calculate my cap gains?
And then, if 5 years later I sell the remaining half... for say 450K... what is the cap gains rule?
I'm sure I'd need a pro to help figure this all out, but thought I'd see if folks here have insights and pointers to good resources (besides asking me to read and digest all of the tax code...)