interesting idea. but what happens when you want to insert tab characters into the code inside part of the if statement? i often place tab's at the end of a line of code when adding a // style comment.
as a possible work around you could use autotext to enter a standard if statement template like:
if($)
{
^^^^
}
else
{
^^^^
}
use the VAX autotext caret character to place the caret inside the brackets for the if statement, and then search for "^^^^". if this is you current search string then simply pressing F3 will move to the next such string and highlight it. at this point you can simply start typing, overwriting the text in the process.