In Service date vs. Conversion date for primary turned rental

[Matt Heartwell]

I have several buy and hold properties where it's clear as day that the in service date is the date the property is available for rent.  I'm a little confused as to how it works when converting a primary home into a rental.

Ex:  Marketed for sale/rent and moved out of my primary home 7/1/16.  I approved a tenant and actually rented the home 10/1/16.  Technically, the home was rentable 7/1/16 so would that be the in service date?  So any monthly bills such as utilities could be deducted post 7/1/16?  In this example, what would be considered rental days vs. personal days for depreciation?  The IRS (pub 527) is not very clear (surprise) on this considering how common a scenario it is.

Thanks in advance!