Over a period of time I have accumulated many letters of recommendation for Chris Walsh and his real estate agency, Revolutionary Realty. (It is a two-man agency that specializes in retreat properties in The American Redoubt.)
I’ve actually received nine letters of recommendation for Chris, but the latest one reminded me that I’ve been remiss in mentioning Chris in the blog. So from the nine letters, I picked just six particularly succinct ones to post, as a representative sample. Note that some of these are just excerpts from longer letters. And I’ve redacted a few details to protect the privacy of the writers.
Three years ago, my husband and I started looking for a new retreat location in North Idaho as we knew our current home, while good and fortified, would not last if TEOTWAWKI came. I did some research and found Revolutionary Realty through a prepper blog that I frequent. After checking out Chris Walsh’s website, I felt that he knew a thing or two about solar power and windmills as he had detailed out his own experiences. Other agents when I inquired on properties acted like I was crazy when I started asking questions or better yet, ignored my questions and just wanted to show me the property. Not only did he have a very easy to navigate property search, he quickly made contact with me on the phone to ask questions on what our goals were and to get a better understanding of where we were and what we needed.Chris was so patient with me as I would send him dozens of listings while I was trying to narrow down what to see when we came to visit. He was open and very honest about each property. It’s so tough to tell or learn a area from 1,100miles away but with his help, I learned the area before I even got there. His knowledge of the outlying areas was incredible. From what parts had bad sun exposure, water issues, too easily accessible or not defensible, he was able to explain almost every properties pros and cons so we could better utilize our time when we got there. Out of the five we ended up narrowing it down too, we ended up writing a offer on the perfect location that was more property and a better value than I expected to find. Even when we were in escrow, we needed anew easement deeded to us and he helped us lay it out so it looks like the road just dead ended. No one knows, except for a few neighbors now, that we live in that enchanted forest! Chris is still there for us three years later and is a wealth of knowledge for us to learn from. I send all of our Prepper friends to him as he is the real deal and a huge asset to the Idaho prepping community. M. in Northern Idaho
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In 2013, we began looking for property that we could use as a retreat. We have become awakened to the many different ways that could cause us to be unsafe in our home in the city. My husband found Chris Walsh’s website and sent me the link. I thought “this is the guy we need!” My husband spoke to him once or twice and then I spoke to him. We met with Chris and he sent us some properties to look at on line, and I sent him some properties I found. He is very knowledgeable about the area, the homes we should look at, those we should not consider and was very specific about why.Eventually we settled on a few properties and he took us around to look at them. It was an entertaining and educational experience. Chris is one-of-a-kind. He has an in-depth knowledge about prepping and loves to share it.
Chris was invaluable to us. We were new to prepping, a little panicky about making sure we did it right and neither my husband nor I possess skills in most areas necessary to be prepared for an emergency. He helped us find a place that was well below our budget, but it left us with enough money to do more to be prepared. He took us to his home and showed us what he has done. He gave us tremendous ideas about what we needed to do. He gave us hours and hours of advice on how to set up a “legitimate” (as he calls it) solar system that now powers our cabin completely. He helped us to figure out the best place to do it on our property, and even taught me a little about electricity which I thought was impossible. We got tips and advice about storing food and gasoline, how to best defend ourselves, how best to fish out of the local lake and he even came up once or twice to check on us and answer some questions. We spent the summer putting in our solar system and we followed his careful instructions and it worked out really well. I suspect we saved tens of thousands of dollars by following his well-researched advice. Honestly, Idon’t know what we would have done without him.
In the end, we became friends. Chris is much more than a Realtor. He truly cares about the people he finds properties for and has a heart of gold. – Mr. & Mrs. [Redacted], near Spokane
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Well, things were changing around our Georgia suburban neighborhood and after a lot of research and a visit to Northern Idaho, my wife and I agreed that it was time to make a radical change in our family’s future. Our son suggested contacting this “special” Realtor before going any further. The man our son was referring to is Chris Walsh of Revolutionary Realty. My wife and I are no strangers to home buying or realtors so my first instinct was to avoid Chris and just search on our own, having bad experiences in the past with Realtors whose only concern was their commission and a quick sale.
My wife and I thought we had a firm grip on buying a property, making the correct choices on where our children would grow up,where we’d call “home” for many, many years, until we met this high-energy guy:Chris Walsh! The saying goes “You don’t know what you don’t know” Within the very first hour we spent with Chris we knew we had chosen the right person to deal with. Not just that he was a Veteran like myself, but he was teaching us about the various micro-climates in Panhandle Idaho, the soil conditions, well water issues, and a host of other important factors one should consider carefully before making a huge decision like that. My wife and I found a listing we fell in love with and drove out to see it for ourselves, loved it,called Chris and told him we wanted to purchase it and an hour later he called us and informed us that we would be very unhappy half of the year at that location due to the flight path directly over this property leading to a resort area’s airport nearby that we’d not even considered! Chris could have made an easy sale there, but instead, he worked for us.
When I mentioned “high energy guy” I wasn’t kidding! Many nights my wife and I would find a property online and e-mail Chris well after dark. Often we woke to a reply e-mail from Chris (who we later learned is up and reading his e-mail messages before dawn) and Chris would be asking when we wanted to get going and see this listing.
This high energy, motivated, down to earth, America-loving veteran is a “what you see is what you get” man. He will tell you the truth, not just want you may want to hear. Checking out the Revolutionary Realty web site and the thoughtfulness and care Chris puts into helping like-minded folks sums it up best. He’s the real deal!!
Regards, [Name Redacted] in Sagle, Idaho
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Describing Chris Walsh as a Real Estate Agent is actually far from the truth. He is so much more than this. I purchased aproperty in Northern Idaho almost a year ago. I used Chris as my agent during my initial search for properties and for the purchase of my new homestead.Chris’ knowledge and integrity are absolutely outstanding and unique. He is as valuable a resource as any property you buy. Upon reflection, I was an absolute novice when it came to purchasing a property that had the attributes of a self-sustainable refuge and homestead. Chris educated me on all aspects. Chris actually spent considerable time and energy explaining why I should not purchase the properties that initially interested me. I thought this was extremely unusual, but refreshing, behavior for a real estate agent. The fact is that Chris really knows what a good property is and has the integrity to not sell a property that he does not believe is a good investment for both monetary and self-sustainability reasons. When we finally found the property I purchased, I knew it was the right decision and the perfect property for what I was looking for. If it was not for Chris’ knowledge and integrity, I would not have found or recognized the unique and necessary aspects of the property that I am now proud to call home. There are so many aspects that make up a good property and Chris knows how to recognize and analyze all of them: Defensibility, privacy,water resources and development, accessibility, local county government policies. I could go on and on. I have dealt with a lot of agents in my investing career and Chris is absolutely beyond compare. I would never dream of purchasing a property through anyone else. Thank you Chris for being a mentor,ally and friend! – Andrew R.
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We want to let people know that if they are looking for a unique property, maybe even one that is away from it all, ouronly recommendation is Chris Walsh of Revolutionary Realty. 13 years ago, my wife began looking for a quiet piece of land that bordered a national forest. She was quite specific in what she wanted. During the 8 year search,she contacted several out of state realtors and was impressed with Chris, as he was the only realtor/broker who responded to every question and with a quick turnaround. He didn’t tire of the numerous e-mails, either. Instead, he got to know us and offered some suggestions to help us find that perfect property.Upon meeting Chris in person, we knew we had found someone who would honestly work for us, to find us the real estate we wanted. Five years ago, Chris showed us a lovely piece of property that was exactly what we had been looking for. Ono ur last trip to retirement dream (north Idaho) we contacted Chris to get his input on several “Off The Grid” concerns. Our questions varied from building sites to technical issues such as water, power and heating to which he was happy to share his knowledge and experience. We wanted to pay some type of consultation fee, since he spent a half day walking the property with us, but he refused, saying, “I get paid with the sale of property and referrals”. Chris went well beyond his duties as a real estate broker, and he has helped us in so many ways. We are so glad he was our realtor/broker and now our dear friend. -C&L (formerly Californians)
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My husband found Chris Walsh off of the Internet,he liked what he read off in Chris’s web site and therefore gave him a call.
Chris was right on it. He asked questions on what all we were looking for in a property and home. Chris was all over it. He sent us listings over the Internet for us to look at. We made millions of phone calls back and forth thru this whole process. Chris knew every detail and information on every property we thought was interesting. If the property was good or bad Chris gave us his honest assessment every time. We appreciated him being thorough and honest.
We flew into town many times to look at numerous properties. Chris took us all over the place to view all of them, sometimes as many as 10 homes or more per day. He showed us the surrounding areas as well so that we would know what was around us especially when it came to being prepared. Chris had even taken us to his home. We met his lovely family but also showed us all the things that we needed to learn and get “prepared” on our future property. Chris gave us so much important information and also told us that he would teach us everything he has learned over the years so that we wouldn’t make the same mistakes he made. He treated us like family and made us feel comfortable.
We made several sight unseen offers on several different properties/homes. Chris was always right on it with all the paperwork. Chris made is very easy even with it being done long distance. Then we would fly into town only to find that the property or house wasn’t what we were looking for and the offer would then be canceled, needing even more paperwork. Chris never complained or treated us badly due to of all the extra work he was putting in because of us.
We finally found the property that we really liked and so did Chris. His input was important to us. Chris liked that it had plenty of acreage for our own food source, it had numerous natural springs for plentyof water, several cisterns, a pond with edible fish and was very close to ahuge lake for another food source. It also backed up to thousands of acres ofState and forest land, but most importantly the property was defensible.
Chris is an honorable man. He is very knowledgeable in every aspect of getting prepared. He is an awesome realtor, person and friend. I would recommend Chris to everyone I know who is looking for this particular property or any property for that matter. You will not be disappointed. – Mr. M.
I can also personally recommend Chris Walsh. He is very knowledgable about the Inland Northwest, he has a great eye for viable retreat properties, and he is a true patriot. – JWR