Sandra Waldie enjoys revisiting a special historic property she was involved in selling some years ago.
When Sandra (Sandy) Waldie was growing up in Toronto, she would never have imagined the life that lay before her. After graduating from Havergal College and earning a degree in economics at Queen’s University, she seemed bound to follow the family footsteps into law or investment banking. But love and marriage in her early twenties found Sandy and her young family moving to Muskoka. “My husband, Ian Waldie, and I landed up here with two tiny kids,” she recalls, “and I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
When her godfather suggested she sell real estate, Sandy replied, “What’s that?”
Thirty-four years later, Sandy is not only perennially Chestnut Park Real Estate Muskoka’s top-selling agent, but she has been partnered for the past ten years with her award-winning daughter Samantha, with whom she comprises the dynamic duo known affectionately as “The Waldie Girls.”
Samantha remembers summers from her childhood fondly. “Growing up, we would be on the boat most days, taking pictures of properties, putting up and taking down signs, and gathering listing details, but also tubing, waterskiing, and having picnics at Windermere or other pretty places,” she recalls. “It’s come full circle now, as my husband and I are often out on the lakes doing similar things with our young daughters.”
lot more than prices have changed since Sandy started in real estate. Operating in the days before cell phones, she frequently drove back and forth across Ontario to get listings signed or to present offers. Th ese days, Sandy is delighted to let Samantha take the lead on technology and on the team’s social media presence. “I still write my clients’ names in my Queen’s University binder,” laughs Sandy. “And yes, I do upload to the ‘cloud’ as a backup. Sam has everything on the computer. After I made a few attempts to use hashtags and links, she said ‘Mom, whatever you want to do, let me know and I’ll do it right!’”
All levity aside, because of the pandemic, Sandy and Samantha have listed and sold cottages on numerous occasions over the past 18 months via Zoom, FaceTime, and WhatsApp. “I absolutely love all these platforms,” says Sandy, “They have been a gift to all of us trying to stay connected with family and friends, and an immeasurable help as we continue to conduct our business in these tricky times.
One thing that has never changed over the years is the delight Sandy takes in her work and in meeting and forming relationships with clients. When she was recently contacted by a couple who had asked her to price their cottage in 1989 and were now doing some estate planning, she was moved to see the notes they had taken after meeting with her over thirty years ago, and so touched when they said they had followed her career ever since. “It once again caused me to reflect on my time in Muskoka,” says Sandy, “and I felt a deep gratitude for the loyalty I have been shown over the years.”
incorporating modern comforts while honouring the splendour of its historical roots. Situated on 800 feet of beautiful shoreline, the main house features all the classic “old Muskoka” elegance typical of Beaumaris, such as a painted basswood interior, sleeping porches, wraparound verandahs, and storybook stone-lined gardens. “It’s not just that this family has honoured the past with their restoration of the buildings,” says Sandy, “but that they have in so many ways picked up the torch by becoming involved in the community. They have club memberships locally, their children have grown up taking swimming and tennis lessons here, they attend regattas, and so on. They’ve really continued the tradition of Muskoka as a place to embrace life with family and friends.”
“The Waldie Girls” look back and smile at all the wonderful memories and look forward with glee and anticipation to continuing to create many, many more. Samantha, a full-time Muskoka resident, and Sandy, who winters in both her hometowns of Toronto and Muskoka, are able to meet with their clients and friends four-seasons long, city-side or Muskoka-side. Sandy fondly recalls her early days in the business, alongside Ian Waldie, pulling their young children across the frozen lake on a sleigh to get to water-access only properties and negotiating between clients on the value of a face cord of wood before she even knew what that was. “Reflectively, I feel very fortunate,” she says, “to have been doing what I’m doing up here. It’s given me so much happiness.”
