When the tenant moves in is irrelevant. When the property is "available for rent" is when depreciation and all other deductible expenses start. The date available for rent is not the date the renter actually moves in either. It's the earliest date a renter *COULD* have moved in.
So if you had everything ready for a physical move in on Aug 1st and put the FOR RENT sign in the front yard on that day, it may not be until Sept15th when you have acquired a renter and they *actually* move in. That doesn't matter. The "in service" date is still Aug 1st.
You will not, under any circumstances, enter your 1098, real estate taxes or property insurance in the Your Home section, or anywhere else for that matter. You will only enter it in the Rental section when the program asks you for it. Note that it is EXTREMELY important you read the small print on every screen. With 2017 being your first year renting out this property, I can guarantee you that the small print matters big time, so that you make correct selections and enter the right numbers. If you do it right, the program will take care of all the splits between the SCH A for the period of time before it was a rental, and the SCH E for the period of time it was classified as a rental and "in service" as such.
One thing that I just can't stress enough is the importance of getting things abostively positutely spot on correct in the first year. The tiniest mistake in that first year tends to grow exponentially as the years pass. Then when you catch your error a few years down the road, fixing it *WILL* be costly. So if you have any doubts or concerns here, please by all means, ask.
