Christopher J Barrett Realtors

A Wakefield brokerage old enough that its founder's 2013 obituary is part of the public record: Christopher J. Barrett started the firm in 1966, and the Better Business Bureau's file — opened in 2003 and A+ accredited since 2019 — records 57 years in business, 20 employees, with Michael Barrett as president and Christopher M. Barrett as vice president [E565174, E565201, E565202, E565204]. Its Massachusetts broker licence, 7452-RE-C, is active with the state registry, registered to Christopher J. Barrett Inc. The office is at 73 Albion St, in the middle of downtown Wakefield. The written record is small but consistent, and what stands out is that customers name individual agents rather than the firm. A 2025 buyer credited an agent named Rosa with reading a tight market, shaping a competitive offer and carrying it to closing on both condos and houses. Two sellers wrote about James Fitzgerald: one in 2024 who had him handle a condo, and one in 2022 whose house sold in two days at the price they wanted [E565209, E565211]. A 2025 seller described Chris himself taking the weight of the selling process off their shoulders. Google sits at 4.6 across 21 ratings, and that average includes a one-star from 2022 that reads in full: 'HORRIBLE! WORSE EVER. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.' — with no account of what went wrong, so there is nothing to weigh it against beyond its bluntness [E565143, E565210]. Volume is the real limit here: 21 ratings and six written accounts is a thin paper trail for a firm this old, and the newest of those accounts is from spring 2025. One date to keep straight if the firm's tenure matters to you: the founder's obituary says 1966, while BBB records the business as started 1/1/1969 and incorporated in 2005 [E565174, E565204]. And BBB's service list runs beyond houses into commercial listings, multi-family and relocation work, so ask where a residential sale sits in their week. This is the local-institution kind of brokerage — long tenure, an active licence, a downtown storefront and a Wakefield chamber listing — rather than a high-volume marketing machine. If you want a Wakefield-area agent with roots, ask which agent would actually carry your transaction, ask for their own recent closings nearby, and confirm the licence with the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons.