**Your residence period generally starts when you actually moved in—in August 2019, based on your facts—not when you purchased the house in June.**

For the federal home-sale gain exclusion, two separate tests apply during the five years ending on the sale date:

- **Ownership:** You must have owned the home for at least two years. Your period began in June 2019.
- **Use:** You must have occupied it as your principal residence for at least two years—24 full months or 730 days. Your period generally began when you moved in during August 2019. [Treasury Regulation § 1.121-1(c)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.121-1)

The regulation specifically says **“occupancy of the residence is required.”** Applying that rule to your situation, owning only one property, leaving it unrented, and putting utilities in your name would not make June and July count while you continued living in your rented apartment. The exception for short temporary absences generally concerns absences from an established residence; it does not ordinarily cover renovating before initially moving in. [Treasury Regulation § 1.121-1(b)–(c)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-1.121-1)

**Your driver’s license and USPS dates are evidence, rather than dates that automatically control the calculation.** The IRS considers all the facts, especially where you actually lived. If you moved in before August 10, the forwarding confirmation would not necessarily postpone your start date. Keep records supporting your actual move, such as moving receipts, apartment move-out records, correspondence, and utility usage. [IRS Publication 523, “Sale of your main home”](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523)

For your proposed sale, **June 2021 would generally be too early to satisfy the full residence requirement.** Closing after the corresponding move-in anniversary in August 2021 would provide a straightforward basis for meeting it, assuming continuous residence and the other eligibility requirements.

One additional tax detail matters: the June-to-August period before occupancy may constitute **nonqualified use**, potentially making a proportion of the gain taxable even after you satisfy the two-year tests. Have your tax preparer check that period when calculating the exclusion. [IRS Publication 523, “Nonqualified use of entire property after 2008”](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p523)