Realtor Thanks Her Customers, And Takes Down Her Shingle

Jeff Green | Oct 18, 2023

Mimi Antoine got her real estate license in 1967 in Streetsville, which was a small town at that time, long before it became part of the expanded town of Mississauga. Mimi was working with AE Lepage, long before the company amalgamated with Royal Trust to form Royal Lepage.

Before entering into real estate, Mimi was doing secretarial work, but she knew even then that she was really “geared to being my own boss”, as she puts it.

“I bought a house at that time, and a lady realtor sold it to me, and there weren't a lot of lady realtor at the time, and it looked like an interesting opportunity, so I pursued it,” she said.

She obtained her real estate license in 1967 and her brokers license in 1972. The 1970's were a busy time in the real estate business in Mississauga as it began to experience explosive growth.

“I worked with another realtor on one project where we sold 92 townhouses in 2 weeks,” she recalls.

In 1980 there was a slowdown as interest rates hit 22%. By that time, Mimi had also met, and married Don Antoine, who was also a realtor. Don came from the Sharbot Lake area, and had a cottage on the lake. He had retired and was ready move back, and soon after that Mimi shut down her office in Streetsville and move to Sharbot Lake.

She did not go back into Real Estate for about 5 years. By that time, they had bought a house on what was then Highway 38. That became the location of Antoine Real Estate.

“At that time, I had never sold rural real estate,” she recalls, “and everything was different. Don't forget, we did not have addresses at that time. Our house was “5 doors up from the hotel”, that's what we told couriers who were coming up here. That was not really that long ago.”

One thing that did not change about rural real estate was that every day was different from the last, which was something that appealed to ever since starting in Streetsville.

“I realised that I needed some help, because unlike in the city where it was easy to know how to value properties, it was not like that in the country, so I joined the Kingston Real Estate Board, which I stayed with, and also found that the other realtors in the area, such as Alison Robinson and Suzanne Regan, were really helpful as well. We worked together to bring good service to our customers. It was always a good environment.”

The other thing that she found was that word of mouth is as powerful, maybe more powerful, in a small town.

“You sell one house, and the people say you've done a really good job, and they send their friends and relatives your way. Of course it also works the other way, but I always found that by being straightforward about how the process works, and keeping up with changes, the outcome was pretty good for both the buyers and the sellers.”

By mainly focussing on Central and North Frontenac, Mimi said she got to see most every road in the area, and a great variety of properties.

“You realise after a while that there is a property for everyone, and you can help them find it most of the time,” she said.

In recent years Mimi's son Chris Jones began working with her, after he had retired from Air Canada and returned to Sharbot Lake.

“I am rally happy that Chris came on, so there was someone who could keep the business going. Of course he has a different way and the market has changed, but it has been great to work with him as I was slowing down. The business has also changed so much, it is much more efficient and computer based.”

Mimi turned 80 in July, and decided to end her career, and she is not looking back.

“I'm busy dealing with a lot of things I have not had time to do,” she said, including sorting through antiques I have accumulated to see what to keep and what to sell. I'm also volunteering more at my church, and lot of that revolves around food. Chris still asks me questions about real estate, and I try to tell him what I know.”

Mimi's real estate license is not up for renewal until 2024, but after three months of retirement, she said she really has let it all go.

“I've sold my last house, that's for sure, and I have no regrets about that, none at all,” she said.