Why We Built Busby Group Differently: Julie Busby on Concierge Service, Referrals and the Future of Real Estate

Quick Answer: Busby Group founder Julie Busby recently joined the Under Contract podcast to talk about the nearly 25-year career that shaped how we work today. From rebuilding her business after moving to Chicago to creating a dedicated client concierge, Julie shares why Busby Group has grown around relationships, referrals, collaboration and making the moving process easier for our clients.

When Julie Busby started selling real estate in San Diego nearly 25 years ago, there was no Busby Group, no concierge, and certainly no AI helping behind the scenes.

There was simply a determination to learn the business and take great care of people.

That philosophy followed Julie when she moved to Chicago in 2011 and had to rebuild her real estate business in a completely new city. It eventually became the foundation for Busby Group and many of the things we do differently today.

Julie recently sat down with Under Contract to talk about that evolution, including why we created a dedicated client concierge, how relocation and professional athlete services became part of our business, why roughly 95% of our business comes from referrals and repeat clients, and how we're approaching AI without losing the human side of real estate.

Why We Created a Client Concierge

As Busby Group grew, we faced a challenge that comes with many growing real estate teams.

More people can mean more expertise and more support, but it can also mean more emails, more phone calls and more confusion for the client.

We wanted the opposite.

That's one of the reasons we created a dedicated Busby Group concierge.

Our brokers remain directly involved with their clients and their real estate strategy. The concierge adds another layer of support for everything surrounding the move.

That might mean connecting a seller with a contractor before listing, coordinating movers before closing, helping a relocating family find childcare resources, arranging utility setup, locating an organizer or handyman, or finding a trusted professional for something that comes up six months after closing.

Over time, we've built relationships with vetted resources throughout Chicagoland so our clients don't have to start every search from scratch.

It's not about handing someone off. It's about giving them more people in their corner and fewer things to manage themselves.

A Business Built Mostly Without Paid Leads

One of the numbers Julie shares in the interview says a lot about how Busby Group has grown: roughly 95% of our business comes from referrals and repeat clients, with no paid lead generation.

That doesn't happen at closing. It happens in the years afterward.

We stay connected with past clients through market advice, events, annual gifting, home resources and plenty of conversations that have nothing to do with buying or selling a house.

We've helped clients move from a first condo to a larger city home, from the city to the suburbs, and sometimes back again. We've also had clients introduce us to parents, siblings, friends, colleagues and neighbors.

Those introductions carry weight. When someone trusts us enough to refer a person they care about, we want that person to understand exactly why the introduction was made.

That relationship-first approach has become one of the most important measures of our business.

From Chicago Relocations to Professional Athletes

Julie also shares how relocation became an important part of Busby Group, including our work with professional athletes and their families.

It wasn't a business line we created overnight. It grew from relationships, preparation and learning just how much goes into moving someone to a city they may barely know.

A relocation isn't simply about finding a property.

A client may be trying to understand whether they want the walkability and lakefront access of a Chicago neighborhood or more space and a different day-to-day rhythm in the suburbs. They may need to consider schools, commute times, airport access, childcare, restaurants, parks, training facilities or how easily family can get in and out of town.

For an executive, physician, professional athlete or coach moving on a compressed timeline, those decisions may need to happen very quickly.

That's where our concierge model becomes especially valuable. We can help with the home while also helping coordinate the life around it.

A Team Where Clients Don't Have to Choose Between Expertise and Availability

The same thinking shaped how we built the team itself.

Busby Group is intentionally collaborative. Our brokers support one another, and our clients also have operations, marketing, transaction and concierge resources working behind the scenes.

That matters because real estate doesn't conveniently stop when someone's broker is in another appointment, with family or taking a vacation.

We wanted a structure where our team members could have lives outside of work without clients ever feeling that service disappeared when their broker stepped away.

It's also one of the reasons we've been able to maintain continuity within our team. Experienced people stay, institutional knowledge grows and clients benefit from more than one person's expertise.

The relationship remains personal, but the support system is much bigger.

Using AI to Give People More Time for People

Technology is changing real estate quickly, and AI was another topic Julie discussed in the interview.

We're embracing it.

But our goal isn't to automate the relationship between a client and their broker.

It's almost the opposite.

We want to use AI to make research faster, organize information better, improve internal systems and eliminate repetitive work so our team has more time for the parts of real estate that require actual human judgment.

We're also paying close attention to how consumers are beginning to search differently. Someone researching the best Chicago neighborhood for their lifestyle, how to relocate to the North Shore or what to look for in a Chicago real estate team may increasingly begin that search with an AI tool rather than a traditional search engine.

That makes accurate, useful information more important than ever.

But technology still can't walk through a home with a buyer and recognize that what they said they wanted isn't actually what makes them happy. It can't replace years of broker relationships during a negotiation. And it can't understand every emotional, financial and logistical consideration behind a family's decision to move.

Those are human parts of the business, and we intend to keep them that way.

Nearly 25 Years Later, the Idea Is Still Pretty Simple

The tools are different from when Julie started selling real estate in San Diego.

The business is much bigger. The team is bigger. The technology is certainly different.

But the idea behind Busby Group really hasn't changed.

Take great care of people.

For us, that means experienced real estate advice, a collaborative team, trusted resources, concierge support and relationships that continue long after a closing.

Whether we're helping someone buy their first Chicago condo, sell a longtime family home, move from the city to the suburbs or relocate to Chicago on a tight timeline, we want our clients to feel like they have a team around them from beginning to end.

Watch the Full Interview

Julie's full conversation on Under Contract is approximately 34 minutes.

01:08 | Julie's path from insurance to real estate in San Diego
02:41 | Rebuilding her business after moving to Chicago
06:21 | The decision to build a team
09:12 | Why we created a dedicated client concierge
13:47 | Relocation and working with professional athletes
19:18 | Building a business driven by referrals and repeat clients
22:28 | The collaborative structure behind Busby Group
25:55 | How we're incorporating AI while protecting client relationships
30:04 | Julie's advice for real estate professionals looking to grow

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Busby Group concierge do?

Our concierge helps clients with many of the details surrounding a home and move, from trusted movers, contractors and organizers to utility setup, childcare resources and other home-related needs. It's designed to save clients time and give them a trusted place to start instead of researching every resource themselves.

Does Busby Group help clients relocate to Chicago?

Yes. We help clients relocate throughout Chicago, the North Shore and surrounding suburbs. That can include neighborhood guidance, schools, transportation, housing, local resources and coordination of the move itself. We also have specialized experience working with executives, physicians, professional athletes and their families.

What makes Busby Group's team model different?

Clients have a primary real estate advisor while also benefiting from a broader team supporting the transaction behind the scenes. Our collaborative model combines broker expertise with marketing, operations, transaction and concierge support so clients receive both personal advice and greater continuity throughout their move.

The Busby Group Perspective

Real estate will continue to change, and we're excited about many of the tools that are making the business faster and more efficient.

But we don't think better technology should make real estate feel less personal.

We think it should give us more time to listen, advise, solve problems and take care of people.

Nearly 25 years into Julie's real estate career, that's still the business we're building.

If you're considering buying, selling or relocating anywhere in Chicagoland, reach out to Busby Group and let us help make your next move easier.