1946
Before the firm
Jordan Baris is twenty years old, serving with the United States Navy in the Philippines — service that would shape the values of the brokerage he would soon found.
Our Story
Seventy-three years.
Two generations.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jordan Baris Realty was founded by Jordan Baris in 1952 — and what began as one man's vision has become Northern New Jersey's most enduring family-run brokerage. Across three offices, two generations of leadership, and seventy-three years of unbroken practice, the firm has been shaped by people who showed up year after year with the same commitment Jordan brought from the beginning.
1952
A one-person office in Newark
After two years selling on Long Island as a top-producing agent, Jordan returns home to New Jersey — opening Jordan Baris, Inc. as a one-person office. His goal is singular: capturing the top market share in Newark, the state’s largest city. Within three years, he achieves it.
1953
Early sales
The firm’s first residential transactions — marketing graphics already striking and considered for the era.
1955
More sales, more offerings
Sales kept coming — and the company expanded the categories it served, broadening into new lines of business beyond residential.
1959
The Commercial Division gathers steam
The Commercial Division gets a head of steam going — logging many commercial and investment property sales, alongside the steady residential business.
1961
A growth trajectory begins
The graphics are extraordinary for the time, and the marketing — led by Jordan himself — keeps getting better and better. The firm’s business-growth trajectory begins in earnest.
1971
The first computerized brokerage
Jordan Baris, Inc. becomes one of the first computerized real estate brokerages in America. Through a pioneering partnership with First Fidelity Bank, the firm gains computer-assisted access to its inventory — long before most brokers had any such tools. As Ken later described it: “Before most brokers had computers, he partnered with First Fidelity Bank to use their computers so that the company’s inventory could be readily available. This was quite unique.”
1977
President of the Real Estate Board
Jordan Baris completes his term as President of the Real Estate Board of Newark and Hillside — leadership of the profession alongside leadership of the firm.
1977
Marjorie steps in, and stays
When the firm’s bookkeeper falls ill, Marjorie Baris steps in as a “stop-gap.” She never leaves. Over the years she builds the Relocation Department into something special — a national engine that to this day generates leads from brokerages and relocation companies across the country.
1978
NJ Coalition for Safe Communities
Jordan Baris founds the NJ Coalition for Safe Communities — an extraordinary organization that would grow with the support of business leaders, politicians, judges, schools, and communities. Here, with then-Congressman Jim Florio, later Governor of New Jersey.
1981
Realtor Community Service Award
Jordan Baris is awarded the Realtor Community Service Award — and stands among the very few in the nation to twice win this meaningful recognition, given to Realtors making a tremendous difference beyond the transaction.
1985
The morning after Rutgers
Ken Baris graduates from Rutgers in May 1985 — and joins the firm the very next morning. The dream he carried since kindergarten — “a Realtor, like my dad” — becomes the start of a four-decade run at his father’s side.
1985
Photo to be added
1988
A second generation
Three years after joining the firm, Ken Baris is recognized among the top, most creative, and most effective real estate agents in the nation.
1993
The Satisfaction Guarantee
Long before customer-experience programs became standard in the industry, Jordan Baris introduced a written satisfaction guarantee — committing to what would otherwise have been a handshake promise, in writing.
1995
Top Presenter — NAR Software of the Year
Co-created by Ken and Jordan, Top Presenter is an interactive multimedia listing presentation eventually licensed to Top Producer of Seattle. The National Association of Realtors names it Software of the Year. The program would go on to sell over 80,000 copies and be used by brokers across the United States and internationally.
1998
A son’s gift
On December 9, 1998, Ken donates a kidney to his father. The transplant is a success — and would extend the quality and length of Jordan’s life by more than two decades. The experience shapes both men’s lifelong commitment to Saint Barnabas and the National Kidney Foundation.
2000
A new chapter of expansion
The year 2000 marks a benchmark moment in the firm’s history. The Baris family commits to aggressively expanding the company — broadening its geographic reach, its services, and the size of the team that delivers them.
2002
Jordan Baris Day
For the company’s 50th anniversary, West Orange Mayor John McKeon proclaims “Jordan Baris Day” in West Orange — an extraordinary civic recognition for half a century of leadership in the community.
2003
A family honored
Five years after Ken’s kidney donation, the National Kidney and Urology Foundation honors the Baris family with its “Family of the Year” award. Both Jordan and Ken had become deeply involved with the Saint Barnabas Healthcare System and the National Kidney Foundation, working to help as many others as possible.
2004
The Star-Ledger turns its lens
New Jersey’s largest newspaper turned its attention frequently to the Baris family’s brokerage — the kind of coverage that comes when a firm has been steadily leading for half a century.
2005
Top dollar
Heralded for netting clients top dollar, the Star-Ledger — which was New Jersey’s largest newspaper — featured Ken in a piece about how he gets such amazing results.
2006
Ken named President
The next chapter, made formal — Ken Baris is named President of the firm, marking the steady passing of the torch from one generation to the next.
2008
Founding the Zillow Broker Advisory Board
Ken is appointed to Zillow’s inaugural Broker Advisory Board — one of just ten leaders nationwide, alongside the heads of Baird & Warner, RE/MAX Allegiance, Better Homes and Gardens, Realogy, Real Estate One, ZipRealty, Weichert, Real Living, and Prudential. A seat at the table as the industry’s most transformative platform took shape.
2012
Ringing the NASDAQ closing bell
Ken and Jordan Baris ring the NASDAQ closing bell together — a wonderful tribute by Zillow, and a public moment that meant everything to a father-and-son partnership four decades into its run.
2019
Joining Real Living Real Estate
The firm enters a new chapter, operating as Jordan Baris Inc, REALTORS® Real Living — joining the HSF Affiliates family within HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. A step toward what would come three years later.
2020
Adapting, together
Even at the height of pandemic disruption, the firm kept training and growing — gathering its agents, in whatever form possible, to invest in the relationships and skills that have always been the engine of the business.
2020
A founder’s farewell
On June 1, 2020 — at age 93 — Jordan Bruce Baris passes away. A son of Brooklyn, a Navy man of the Greatest Generation, and the founder of a firm that bears his name to this day. The brokerage he built continues, his values its compass.
2021
An award in his name
Real Living establishes the Jordan Baris Award for Diversity and Inclusion — and names BHHS Jordan Baris Realty its first recipient. His name now lives on as an honor the rest of the industry aspires to win.
2022
Seventy years strong, now Berkshire Hathaway
On the firm’s 70th anniversary, Ken announces the affiliation with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices — joining as the brand’s 59th New Jersey office, with over 100 agents coming aboard. Christy Budnick, Gino Blefari, and Allan Dalton officially welcome the team as the first new BHHS associates of the next chapter.
2022
Bringing Gold Star into the family
Three months after the BHHS affiliation, the firm acquires Real Living Gold Star Realty — bringing Drs. Teri and Michael Gamble and their Bergen County team into BHHS Jordan Baris Realty. The brokerage’s footprint extends into a new market with two of the industry’s most accomplished leaders.
2023
Newsmaker of the Year
Ken Baris received the RISMedia Newsmaker Award — recognizing not a single deal or a single year, but a body of leadership built over four decades of commitment to the industry, the community, and the firm his father founded.
2024
A three-time Industry Luminary
RISMedia names Ken an Industry Luminary — his third recognition as a Real Estate Newsmaker, after being named Influencer in 2020 and Luminary in 2022. A rare three-peat from one of the industry’s most respected platforms.
