Kenny,As a lifelong real estate investor and a broker with over 30 years of experience specializing in multi-family properties, I can confidently say that success in this field is all about building relationships.

Hire a cheap crew to tunnel and the real plumber to set and replace the pipe. 

Definitely geared towards ppl that are intermediate in Real Estate.

Maybe they bring the experience and provide the funds.I don't like any of your options based on I think you are too new to investing in real estate to take on any of those.

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?

@Nicholas Nocella - Congrats on starting your real estate investing journey!

I know many people who own real estate that are not citizens of the US.

Forming an LLC for your rental property can offer liability protection, but no real tax benefit.

Quote from @Clint Miller: Seller financing opens up great opportunities for real estate investors, but coming up with the down payment can still be tricky. 

There’s no real way to create phantom losses without running into issues with the IRS, and you could end up losing important tax benefits.