Lido, valid point, good call. If the great O.C. area is related to your name (Lido island or Newport) then a three wall teardown will preserve your taxes for the most part but they will add some of the construction costs onto your assessed value however it will still be a bargain in taxes. What makes a remodel, addition or three wall work in some areas (like yours) is that it won’t look or feel out of place there, much like Coronado. Some of the coastal areas that were built out thirty years ago are now dominated with remodels and were primarily custom homes anyway. In some of the older prime areas of coastal O.C., it would look out of place if you didn’t remodel. I think tract homes in the suburbs are a different animal, we should ask the O.P. where his place is, a big chunk of Encinitas east of I-5 is 1970’s and 1980’s tract homes, but the West side is not. But you are right, the five fold increase in property taxes in some situations needs to be part of the mix.