Hillary Henderson, Megan Busque Bring the Personal Touch to Real Estate

You don’t have to be crazy to be in this line of work, but it helps. 

The frantic pace, the 24/7 schedule, the willingness to bend over backward to deliver — these are all qualities of the successful real estate agent. As for the crazy part — as off-the-cuff and facetious as Megan Busque was being when she riffed the response — it indeed does have a kernel of truth in there. 

“Seriously, you have to be a people person. You have to be a problem-solver and find ways to work through things,” Busque said. “Plus, you have to realize that this, for most people, is going to be the biggest transaction of their lives. To them, it may seem like a life or death situation, but our job is to help them realize that this is just a business transaction. If this house isn’t the one that does the deal, there will be another.” 

Flexibility, objectivity, communication and listening to what is important to the client also all play a large role in the career path, added Hillary Henderson, Busque’s real estate partner as Busque & Henderson Realtors Henderson and Busque Realtors at RE/MAX Real Estate Professionals in the Lansing area. 

“We don’t want people to make a decision and then regret it,” Henderson said. 

Busque and Henderson have been partners on the regional real estate scene since 2018. Henderson grew up in the real estate industry, with her family owning an agency in Adrian. Busque started out managing a hair salon when a regular client and family friend in real estate convinced her to take a stab at it. 

“Megan and I were at different firms, but we were always friends and have many of the same social circles and contact base. So, at one point, it just made sense for us to team up,” Henderson said. 

“I think we balance each other out. We’re very similar, but we’re also different in many ways,” Busque said. “We have the same work ethic, and we move at the same pace. We both think the same. I don’t even have to ask her on something. I know what her answer’s already going to be.” 

Having someone else to lean on can help stabilize the work-life balance, but it’s also a continuous process to perfect. 

“It’s an ever-evolving situation. We try very hard, but when things come up, we’re working,” Henderson said. “And that’s OK. We like it that way.” 

“You have to ride the highs and the lows, and you have to take advantage of the time that you have that you’re busy,” Busque added. “The times that you’re slower, you just kind of have to go with the flow. You have to be very flexible in this business for sure.” 

As the real estate season ramps up for spring and summer, there is already a rosier outlook. In March the National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales reversed a 12-month slide in February, registering the largest monthly percentage increase since July 2020. 

“Things changed mostly during COVID … when we were in quarantine. Basically people were having to make offers on homes sight unseen. They weren’t doing inspections. No appraisals. It was a strange time,” Busque said. “Now there’s not that panic mode, and it’s kind of normalizing. Inventory is still low, so that hasn’t changed.” 

“The other thing that hasn’t changed is that we saw a lot more people needing walls and home offices and home gyms,” Henderson said. “That’s still there. A lot of people are continuing to work from home or are working hybrid. I think that changed everyone’s perspective, but you never know what is going to happen from day to day.” 

One thing that will likely remain a constant is the attraction people have to the region with it being the state capital and home to a major research university. 

“We have all these things that keep us a stable place. People are always going to be coming here and people are always going to be transferring from here to other places,” Busque said. “We’re always going to have those things to keep the market going.” 

What keeps the market going are the people who need the assistance and guidance of Henderson and Busque — and that’s what gets them up in the morning. 

“If we’re helping someone who’s having a baby and then they send us the baby pictures when they’re 4, it’s almost like watching your own kids grow up,” Henderson said. “Just having those clients and helping them fulfill their dreams is really special.” 

“It’s in the relationships we make and watching them be so appreciative and seeing how happy they are,” Busque noted. “It’s a lot of trust they put in us, and it’s a pretty good feeling to know that someone has that trust in you. We meet some cool people and form relationships with those people. We’ve had people who bought their very first home with us, and now they’re coming back to us with a family and they need more space. It’s those things that make it great.” 

“And it’s fun,” Henderson said. “We’re not sitting staring at the same thing every day. Every day is different, and you never know what the day is going to bring.”