No 1.75% funding fee so conventional loans typically have less closing costs.

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?

The bank I work at would require the property to be close by.

You’ll likely need to look beyond the city limits (in areas that are still close enough to the city to benefit from its local economic tailwinds) if you want to find deals that pencil out.

New 5-year Triple Net commercial lease with annual increases upon closing.

Each note is reviewed individually and most note buyers will provide quotes once the transaction has closed, recorded, and the first payment made. 

A FHA 203k Loan is where the purchase price and rehab costs are rolled into a single loan.The downside of using FHA or a FHA 203k is you will need to live there, for a minimum of one year (to satisfy FHA Requirements); AND because you closed personally, you will not have Asset Protection, in the form of closing in the name of a LLC.

So I just closed on a duplex a couple days ago & Im going to be house hacking.

However, you have to be extremely careful financing 100% of the transaction as you still need reserves, closing costs, etc. and make sure it cash flows.You didn't mention if this would be a rental or owner occupied. 

Once you pay realtor fees, closing costs, sellers want 10k for points and concessions.