Todd Savage says four out of five of his relocation clients are fleeing California for fortified rural properties in Idaho and Montana.
The former US Marine, 55, runs Strategic Relocation and Survival Realty from his adopted home in northern Idaho, where he has built a business selling what he calls “disruptive real estate in dangerous times.” Savage decamped from the Bay Area to Idaho in 2006, and his customer base has shifted dramatically since then. While retirees once dominated his roster, he told the California Post that 70 percent of current clients are now aged in their 30s to 50s.
“They are tired of it, so they are voting with their feet,” Savage said. “My clients want to raise children in a city where people don’t get kidnapped and murdered, with drugs and all kinds of lawlessness. They say let’s go somewhere where we’re treated as a citizen and not a subject.”
Savage described his ideal destinations — Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry — as “like Lake Tahoe without the liberals.” He emphasized the region’s natural amenities and permissive building codes as major draws.
“We’ve got two giant lakes. We have a world-class ski mountain. And we have freedom,” he continued. “I live in a county where I can build a house without a building permit. Everybody gets along. People respect each other up here.”
A typical package runs $750,000 to $1.25 million for ten to 20 acres in northern Idaho or northwest Montana, including a main residence and the infrastructure for self-sufficient living. Savage noted this represents a sharp discount compared to California prices. One recent client, a “well to do” newly married couple who run an online business, purchased 20 acres with chickens, goats and cows in Idaho specifically to raise a family in what they considered a safer environment.
The consultant said his clients’ motivations have evolved. Taxes were once the primary complaint, but “rampant” crime has overtaken cost as the leading factor pushing Californians out.
“And they can’t defend themselves in California,” Savage added. “You can’t necessarily carry a gun everywhere you need to. It’s not a stand your ground state. If you get into a self-defense scenario and unfortunately have to shoot your attacker, they want to prosecute the victim. It’s insane.”
The properties Savage brokers come with explicit security infrastructure: underground bunkers, weapons, ammunition and sustainable farmsteads designed for off-grid operation. He said demand for this remote lifestyle has increased since February, when he cited the start of the Iran war as a catalyst.
“Clients no longer trust any part of the government any more,” Savage said. “They want that freedom that we used to have back in the 40s and 50s. They really just want to raise their families how they see fit and live a good life and you really can’t do that any more in California. It’s a nanny state.”
Food security factors into the calculus as well. Savage noted that clients increasingly want to grow their own food “because of what’s happening to the food supply.”
The political composition of his clientele has surprised him. Savage told the California Post that “folks on the left are tired of it as well which is very surprising. People just want to be free.”
Savage reserved his sharpest criticism for Los Angeles and California’s broader governance. He attacked the state’s $24 billion homeless spending as wasted expenditure, declaring: “You could build a city and give everyone a tiny house for that amount.”
Of downtown Los Angeles specifically, he proclaimed: “I can’t take my kids and walk in downtown L.A. Without worrying about getting murdered or kidnapped or shot.”