Advice on the real estate market in Irvine, CA

[Jon Ting]

I recently checked out some of the new track homes in Irvine, CA and am very interested in potentially learning more about this area.

I checked out the homes here http://www.irvinepacific.com/Stonegate/Overview.aspx

the development consists condos/townhouses/attached homes/single family homes

I plan on potentially moving into the house myself and renting out the other 2 rooms (most of them are 3 bedroom), and then if my future takes me elsewhere I plan on renting out the full house and in the future if prices are right I plan to sell.

Now I'm very new when it comes to real estate investment so I was hoping I could get some advice from everyone here on what they think about just the overall plan. Is this area or Irvine a good area to invest in? Is there potential growth? What worries me is that it is a bit far from "central Irvine", definitely a bit more inland and it is a good 30 minute drive to beach cities so I'm afraid that may be a determinant on its future value. I know the homes sold so far have already gone up 60K+ since phase 1 (I believe 8 phases total) and they are on the later ones already.

Also, if I plan to rent and then sell in the future how much of a difference is a single family free standing home going to differ from an attached house? the floorplans are exactly the same but 1 is attached (3/4 units per attachment). Is it more worth it to buy a truly detached house? It costs about 60-80K more if memory serves me correctly.

Any advice is appreciated, please excuse my limited knowledge.

Thanks,
Jon