Capital Gains on 2 homes?

[Nadine S.]

Hi everyone! I have a question concerning capital gains and I've read through many threads but unfortunately I've not found a scenario that quite matches my situation. Hopefully one of you can help me out.

My husband and I both owned homes when we got married, we were unable to sell so we rented his house for the last couple years and lived in my house. Recently we were able to sell his house and with a gain (although not huge still a gain). He owned the home for 11 years and did live in it for 2 out of the past 5 years so it does qaulify under the ownership and use guideline so based on that alone I believe we would qualify for the tax exemption.

Here is the tricky part, we are now planning to try to sell my home and there would be a gain as well (if not we won't sell). I have owned this house for 4 years and have lived in it the entire time so it would also fall under the ownership and use guideline for tax exemption.

My question is, can both properties receive the exemption since they fall under the acceptable guidelines and will not exceed even the $250k maximum or will only our current primary home qualify?

Thank you all so much for reading and any information you can provide!