Can I deduct passive RE losses if in an LLC?

[Kayla V.]

I've followed all the threads about to LLC or not to LLC and most focus on the liability aspect. Since I only have two properties, I've kept them in my personal name so far and added an umbrella insurance policy just to keep things simple.

I procrastinated on our 2016 taxes and just finished them last night. My husband and I both have strong W2s and make more than $150k per year combined. We were unable to deduct any of our passive real estate losses against our W2 incomes. 

However, we also have a small ecommerce business that we started last year that showed a loss due to startup costs. That is in an LLC and we WERE able to deduct those losses.

If we were to put our properties in an LLC, would we be able to deduct the passive losses, even though it's still real estate?