Our lot is fenced in and we cannot see where he lives but close enough to be of concern, but we want to stay in the same town until the kids are finished school.So, my question is this, would it make sense to rent our home (roughly $2300-2500/mo. as per real-estate agent claims), with the stipulation that the garage is used for my business AND buy a home nearby?

Are you a real estate agent?

Part of me is considering buying more real estate though.

For several reasons (property taxes, politics), I would prefer to begin real estate investing somewhere other than locally. 

What you have described sounds like a real estate  race to the bottom and you will be in the lead .

Any type of investment real estate anywhere in the US can be sold and replaced by any other type of investment real estate of any number of properties anywhere in the US.Washington to CA is perfectly fine.  

But if I do that my time would be so limited to when I could work on my real estate.

When I spoke with a real estate professional, she said the home would probably sell for around $250k in its current condition.

Build a local team, including a trustworthy real estate agent, property manager, and inspector, to help you identify and manage deals remotely.

@Eric E.UBIT only comes into play in an IRA on leveraged real estate and running an active business.