If you move out and rent your home, you can continue to treat the house as your principal residence for four additional years, or possibly more if you move as a consequence of a change of your place of employment with your employer. There are also rules that apply if you own property to earn rental income and subsequently convert the property to personal use. Basically, at the time of the change in use, you’re deemed to have disposed of the property at its FMV. If this value exceeds your original cost, you will have to report a capital gain. However, you can make a special election to defer recognizing this gain until you ultimately sell the home. This election is not available if you have claimed depreciation on the property for any year after 1984.