Just curious, if I put a down payment on a house, and then sell my current house, and the profit is equal to my down payment, is that counted the same as if I sold my house first and used the profit for a down payment?

hope that made sense.
basically I can afford to put a down payment on a new home without selling the old. just wanted to make sure I can still get the tax break from profits off the old since that amount of money went into the new, just not the exact money that came out.

Those are the old rules; they changed in 1997.  As long as the house is your primary residence, and it's been your primary residence for two of the last five years, you can exclude up to $250k ($500k if married and  you file jointly) in capital gains taxes.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/capital-gains-home-sale-tax-break-a-boon-for-owners-1.aspx

thanks. did not know it changed. that helps a great deal.