Foster-Healey Continues to Evolve Through Technology While Keeping Tradition Alive

Originally founded in 1924, Foster-Healey Real Estate, Inc. has thrived in the local North Central Massachusetts area for nearly 100 years.

President Richard Healey became a realtor at 26 after graduating from Colby College in 1977, and took over running the family-owned business after his father had passed in 1982. Since then, Healey and his wife has owned and operated the company under his father’s principles, and for the last fourteen years, they have worked together with their son Taylor, who knew he wanted to be a realtor and get more involved with the business.

“Real estate is much more about problem-solving, rather than being a salesman,” said Healey. “People need places to live or had a house to sell, and they needed our help.”

What sets Foster-Healey apart from the other larger national companies is that they are a local-focused firm.

“We are a local firm. So much of local business is talking about shopping local, and when you look at real estate firms, most of them offer the same technology that we’re offering, but they’re owned outside of the local area.

“We like to say, ‘We’ve been here, and we’ll be here.’ If someone has an issue, they know that they can call me,” said Healey. “Our agents are local, have local knowledge, and we have state-of-the-art technology through drone and aerial photography, as well as Matterport technology for 3D tours.”

The 3D Matterport tours are included in every house they sell on the market. According to their website, “A Matterport Tour is an immersive, 360º virtual experience. It is a great tool for engaging our potential home buyers by allowing you to really feel like you are walking-thru the home. What is so neat about the tour, is the fact that you can press the play button at the bottom of the screen, sit back and enjoy a walk-thru video. Or you can click on the circles located on the floor to move from room to room. This is a great option if you are wanting to see a specific room and you don’t want to sit through the entire tour to get there.”

With approximately 800-1,700 consumers viewing the tours each month, they are able to control what rooms they want to view, rather than a standard virtual walkthrough. This game-changing technology provides the opportunity for people to control where they are going in the house listed. The camera revolves 360 degrees and there is a camera every 6 feet, which is then digitally stitched together and measures everything, which can prove to be beneficial for making sure your couch fits, or how high the ceilings are without having to leave the comfort of your own home. As an immersive technology, it allows the consumer to really understand and dive into the question, “Is this my house?”

“Very little replaces the actual touching, feeling everything, and looking around in person,” said Healey, “but the Matterport tours really help to make that first decision for the consumer, and saves sellers from so many people having them walk through the house.”

Through the pandemic there were a lot of adjustments. Fortunately, Foster-Healey and other real estate businesses were described as essential businesses. Although both buyers and sellers are now feeling more comfortable doing things in person, both parties still really heavily on technology to be able to assist them.

The Matterport tours are especially convenient if a consumer is from the Boston area, and looking to move further away from the city, as they realize they can work from home or go into the city once or twice a week, or even once or twice a month. “We want to make sure we get our listings up on the internet in the best possible way.”

In 2024, Foster-Healey Real Estate, Inc. will be celebrating their centennial of being in business in the local North Central Massachusetts area, and for a large portion of that time, they have been a Chamber member with the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. In fact, President Healey was a former chairman of the board in 1995.

“It’s a great opportunity of other local businesses to interact with each other and other local businesses, and the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce provides us that opportunity,” he said.

For Healey, he believes that the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce keeps the economy up and the local businesses thriving.

Foster-Healy Real Estate aims to continue to try to make sure that they have state-of-the-art services and continue to be involved with what’s happening around them. They are located at 50 Central Street, Leominster, MA, as well as 26 Pearson Boulevard, Gardner, MA and can be reached at for more information on finding your next home.