Quote from @Darnell Holland: Hello, I am looking to do my first tear-down and rebuild development deal in Nashville.  

Separate issue is only 13% of CA homeowners pay for earthquake insurance because it's so expensive and the deductible can be really high.What are your re-building costs in your area?

Each person who lost their property will need to rebuild their home.

If you don't rebuild or replace, the transaction is taxable. 

And that's only if you rebuild.2.

Now, I’m rebuilding my portfolio while continuing to help others buy and sell homes.

The builders that were building rentals are most assuredly going to switch over to rebuilding the higher profit multi-million dollar homes.

The current way the studs are built is not up to code, so they have to rebuild the entire structure of the kitchen wall This is not uncommon especially when renovating an older home and when budgeting you should also carry a very heavy contingency for unknowns. 

To rebuild would not be all that much more due to the work that needs to be done. 

About 1/3 were in limbo--neither rebuilding nor selling, while owners tried to decide what to do--sell, rebuild, or fight with the insurance company--or just didn't have the money to rebuild and didn't want to sell.