[vinnie]

Hypothetical...using round numbers
Lets say I bought a home in NY 20 years ago for 1 million as my primary residence. Then 10 years later I buy a home in The Villages and make Florida my primary residence.

Lets assume this 1 million home is now worth 2.5 million with a net gain including capital improvements of 1.5 million.

What are my options if I wish to sell NY residence and pay no capital gains taxes?
1. I can become a NY resident for 2 years and then get $500k exclusion thus reducing my capital gains tax from 1.5 million to 1 million
or
2. I can rent this vacation property for 2 years to treat it as investment property since it is not my primary residence. Then if I sell it, I can do a 1031 exchange as long as I follow the rules regarding identifying and closing on new property.
Here some the tricky part...
Can I rent this property in NY Oct Nov Dec of 2017 and also Jan Feb Mar of 2018 and then close on the property April 1st in order to qualify.
Is there any amount of money that I need to collect for rent or time I need to rent to fully qualify?