can I sell my house and put the money in one of my other houses so I do not have to buy a new house in order not to pay taxes?
you can put your money anywhere you want! It won’t help you with the tax man tho. My understanding is that if you live in your house for 2 years or more in a 5 year period you will be exempt from taxes on the money earned up to 250K per individual or 500k for married. You can do this as many times as you like. There is NO more rolling your profits into the next home you will occupy for tax advantages. This is how I understood the law to be.
If you are selling your primary residence, up to $250K in sale profits per taxpayer can be excluded from capital gains if you have both owned and occupied the property as your primary residence at least two of the more recent five years prior to the sale. You do not have to own the property for five years to qualify. There is no requirement that you reinvest the money in a new home to qualify for the exclusion.
If you are selling an investment property, you can defer capital gains by using a 1031 exchange. Taking the money and paying down a mortgage on another property you already own will not qualify for tax deferral.