Should I fix up my house before selling?

Not every repair is worth the money. The key is knowing which fixes create buyer confidence and which ones you can skip without hurting your sale price. Stephen gives every seller a pre-inspection repair plan built around real return on investment, so you spend only where it pays off and avoid over-improving for the market.

How do you price a home correctly in this market?

Pricing is the single most important decision you make when selling. Too high and buyers skip you, days pile up, and you accept less with no leverage. Too low and you leave money behind. As a certified Home Pricing Expert, Stephen builds a full market analysis for every listing and positions your home where serious buyers compete rather than hesitate.

Can I sell my home while I'm stationed overseas or out of state?

Yes. Stephen has sold homes for military clients stationed in Japan, Germany, and across the country. As a certified Military Relocation Professional, he handles the full process remotely, including pricing, prep coordination, showings, negotiation, and closing, so you do not have to be physically present.

How long will it take to sell my home in Killeen?

A correctly priced and well-prepared home in Killeen and the Fort Hood market typically goes under contract within two to three weeks of listing. Homes that sit longer are usually overpriced at launch or lack a targeted marketing strategy. Stephen uses a structured launch with a Day-10 checkpoint to catch momentum issues early before they become a problem.

What is the difference between list price and what I actually walk away with?

A lot can happen between list price and closing table. Buyer concessions, repair credits, closing cost contributions, and weak contract terms can all reduce what you keep. Stephen focuses on your net proceeds, negotiating price, terms, credits, and contingencies together so the number that matters is the one on your final settlement statement.

Why should I hire Stephen Harris over another agent in Killeen?

Stephen has 400+ closings, $92 million in sales volume, 100+ five-star Google reviews, and 10 years of Central Texas experience. He gives you a straight answer, builds a real plan for your specific home, and stays reachable throughout the entire process.

Do You Pay Capital Gains Tax Selling a Home in Killeen?

Do You Pay Capital Gains Tax When You Sell a Home in Killeen, TX?

Most Killeen sellers don’t owe a dime. Texas has no state income tax, and the federal home-sale exclusion lets you keep up to $250,000 of profit tax-free if you’re single, or up to $500,000 if you’re married and filing jointly — as long as you owned and lived in the home for at least 2 of the last 5 years. You only owe federal capital gains tax on profit above that line. And if you’re active-duty military on PCS orders, you can pause that 5-year clock for up to 10 years.

By Stephen Harris | June 1, 2026

Here’s what the data says. In a Killeen market with a median sale price around $225,000 and prices down roughly 9.5% year over year, very few sellers are sitting on a gain large enough to trigger a capital gains bill. But “most people don’t owe it” is not the same as “you don’t owe it.” The only way to know your number is to run your actual cost basis against your actual sale price — and that’s the math worth doing before you list.

Let me show you my logic: how it works, who actually pays, and the one rule almost every military seller near Fort Hood gets wrong.

The home-sale exclusion: why most Killeen sellers owe nothing

The federal capital gain on your home is not your sale price. It’s your profit — what you sell for, minus what the IRS calls your cost basis.

Your cost basis is bigger than most people think. It includes:

What you originally paid for the home
Capital improvements you made over the years — a new roof, an added bathroom, a replaced HVAC system, fencing, a covered patio
Your selling costs — agent commissions, title fees, and other closing costs

Add those up, subtract from your sale price, and that’s your gain. Then the exclusion goes to work.

If you owned and used the home as your primary residence for at least 24 months out of the 5 years before the sale, you can exclude:

$250,000 of gain if you file single
$500,000 of gain if you’re married filing jointly

Here’s a real-world Killeen scenario. Say you bought in 2019 for $180,000, put $20,000 into improvements, and sell today for $250,000 with about $18,000 in selling costs. Your gain is roughly $250,000 minus $180,000 minus $20,000 minus $18,000 — about $32,000. That’s well under the $250,000 exclusion, so your federal capital gains tax is zero.

That’s the situation for the large majority of sellers in Killeen, Harker Heights, and Copperas Cove. The equity is real, but it rarely clears a quarter-million dollars of profit on a single home.

Military PCS sellers: how to pause the clock near Fort Hood

This is the rule that protects Fort Hood families — and the one most sellers don’t know exists.

Normally you have to live in the home 2 of the last 5 years to qualify for the exclusion. But if you or your spouse are on qualified official extended duty in the uniformed services, and you receive PCS orders to a station more than 50 miles away, you can suspend that 5-year test period for up to 10 additional years.

In plain terms: you can move for orders, rent the house out for years, and still come back and claim the exclusion when you sell — as long as you hit the 2-year residency requirement at some point inside that extended window. It effectively stretches your 5-year clock to as long as 15 years.

This is exactly the kind of decision I walk military clients through before they choose to sell or rent after orders drop. The exclusion can be a major reason it makes sense to hold a home a little longer — or a reason to sell now while the benefit is locked in. It depends on your timeline, your basis, and what the rental math looks like. The numbers behind that choice are the same ones in my Fort Hood PCS seller’s playbook.

One honest qualifier: the suspension is an election with specific rules, and it interacts with depreciation if you rent the home out. That’s a conversation for your tax professional, not a blog post. I’ll help you understand how it affects your sell-or-rent decision; your CPA confirms the filing.

When you actually might owe — and how to lower the bill

A smaller group of sellers does cross the line. You’re more likely to owe federal capital gains tax if:

You’ve owned a long-time home with deep appreciation and your gain exceeds $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (married)
The property was an investment or rental, not your primary residence — different rules and depreciation recapture apply
You owned the home less than a year, which makes the gain short-term and taxes it as ordinary income
You’ve already used the exclusion on another home sale in the past two years

For long-term gains above the exclusion, federal rates are 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your taxable income — Texas adds nothing on top.

If you think you might owe, here’s how you protect your bottom line:

Document every improvement. Receipts for the roof, the HVAC, the addition — each one raises your basis and lowers your taxable gain.
Count your selling costs. Commissions and closing costs come off the gain too.
Mind the 2-year timing. If you’re a month or two short of the residency requirement, the difference can be thousands of dollars.
Loop in a CPA early. The right basis calculation, done before you list, is the cheapest tax planning there is.

Your specific number depends on your purchase price, your improvements, your filing status, and your timeline — that’s where running the real math with someone who knows this market comes in. It’s the same lens I use on every line item in your net proceeds breakdown and your true cost to sell.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Texas have a state capital gains tax on home sales?

No. Texas has no state income tax, so there’s no separate state capital gains tax. Any capital gains tax on a home sale is federal only, and most sellers avoid even that through the home-sale exclusion.

How much profit can I make before I owe capital gains tax?

You can exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you file single, or $500,000 if you’re married filing jointly, as long as you owned and lived in the home for at least 2 of the last 5 years. You only owe federal tax on profit above that amount.

I got PCS orders from Fort Hood. Do I lose the exclusion if I rent my house out?

Not necessarily. Active-duty members on qualified extended duty can suspend the 5-year residency test for up to 10 years, which can stretch your eligibility window to as long as 15 years. Renting the home does add depreciation rules, so confirm the details with a tax professional.

Is my home sale profit the same as my sale price?

No. Your taxable gain is your sale price minus your cost basis — what you paid, plus capital improvements, plus selling costs like commissions and title fees. The gain is almost always far smaller than the sale price.

Do I have to report the sale if I don’t owe any tax?

Sometimes. If you receive a Form 1099-S at closing, the sale generally needs to be reported even when the full gain is excluded. Your tax preparer can confirm what your specific closing requires.

Most Killeen sellers walk away from closing owing no capital gains tax at all — but “most” isn’t “all,” and the difference comes down to your basis, your timeline, and, for military families, whether you’ve used the PCS suspension correctly. The number that matters is what you actually keep at closing, not what the sign out front says.

Book a free strategy call with Stephen Harris so we can map out your best move — whether that’s selling now, holding through a PCS, or timing the sale to protect your exclusion. I’ll pull your comps, run your net proceeds at three price points, and show you what each path actually looks like in today’s Central Texas market. No pressure, no pitch — just the data, so you can decide with full information. Book your call here.

This article is general information, not tax advice. Stephen Harris is a real estate broker, not a CPA or tax advisor — always confirm your specific situation with a qualified tax professional.

About Stephen Harris

Stephen Harris is a Central Texas real estate broker with the Good Life Team at All City Real Estate, Ltd. Co. He helps homeowners sell with a clear pricing strategy, a smart prep plan, and strong negotiation guidance. He specializes in helping first-time sellers, move-up sellers, and military families in Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Temple, Belton, and the Fort Hood area protect their equity and make confident decisions from listing to closing. Texas Associate Broker, License #677386.