LLC's R/E losses to Personal Income tax 1040

[Tiffy W.]

Hi,

I am a R/E investor that is seeking the community's thought on the following tax related questions. Please feel free to chime in and provide your two-cents. Appreciate any help in advance.

Background Information: I purchased a 9 unit multi-family property under my LLC (partnership), which generated a net real estate loss for the year 2014. I currently manage the property in all aspects of the operation and do not require a property manager or a management team to service my building. I understand R/E income is a "passive" income for tax classification purpose. However, I do contribute over 30+ hours on a weekly basis and possibly even more during the winter months. Note: I am the general partner and also the largest shareholder in excess of 80%.

I also have a non R/E related full-time position that generates over 150K annually. This information is disclosed because I believe there may be a threshold that prohibit full-time position earners to use rental loss to offset earned taxable income.

1) Would it be possible to flow through the LLC's R/E losses to reduce my earned income? If this is not possible, are there other recommended tax strategies? NOLs are not possible given that this is a partnership (not a corporation or a sole proprietorship).

2) CPAs - do you recommend your clients (in similar situation) to claim themselves to be "real-estate professionals"? I understand there is a qualification list and I do feel like I meet them but I would like to hear thoughts from CPAs.