Is there an easier way to signal this active low relay module for the pi?
A Raspberry Pi has a well-defined GPIO configuration on startup: all GPIOs are inputs, 0-8 have weak pullups, and 9-27 have weak pulldowns. 

You can use a suitable pullup resistor to ensure that the pin goes high when not driven (when using 9-27 take care to ensure that the resulting voltage is high enough). 

As a result, the pins will have a logic-high voltage, until you a) configure them as output and b) drive them low.