15K down on new house '03, builder couldn't settle til '05. Sold '06. Can this be long term gain?

I only owned the house a few months, so it's a short-term gain, I assume, but it seems against the purpose of the investment rules, because my investment started with the sales contract at 15K down in 9/03. So, my investment was held over two years. It seems in the spirit of long-term gain, if within the letter of short-term gain.
Any way around the settlement date being the date the investment commenced?

Did you purchase the land separately or was that part of a package deal? Perhaps your gain or loss on the land is long-term. Your ownership of the home can't begin before the home is ready to sell to someone else, so the gain on that is short-term.

Take some time to figure the basis of the house itself. All expenses of construction of the building go into the basis. All expenses of the sale are subtracted from the sales price. Only the difference is the short-term capital gain.

Also, if you had interest expenses connected with the building project, such as you had to take out loans to finance the project, then any interest you paid is capitalized, i.e. added to the basis of the house.

Probably not, but I'd talk to a CPA.

I would say Short Term.

The holding period begins when your ownership begins.