About
Jim Sim, Linda Shafer and Jennifer Christopher are the founding partners of Oak Leaf Realty, LLC. Oak Leaf Realty opened February 1, 2015 in Frankfort, IL. Jim, Linda and Jennifer have over 75 years combined experience in the Real Estate industry.
Jim Sim, Designated Broker & Broker Owner
Jim was raised in Oak Lawn and graduated from Oak Lawn Community High School and Illinois State University. He obtained his Real Estate Sales License in 1989 and his Brokers License in 1991. Jim has previously worked at Century 21 Pride and ReMax All Properties. Jim has been an award winning production agent for many years. Jim has added to his Professional Real Estate qualities by being an active member of the Three Rivers Association of Realtors, Illinois Association of Realtors, and the National Association of Realtors. Jim has been a Board Member at the Three Rivers Association for the last 8 years and prior to that was the Chair of the Government Affairs Committee. Jim is the current President Elect of the Three Rivers Board. Jim also has the professional Designations of GRI, SRS, & SFR. Jim's goal is to educate and empower each client he works with by putting his education and experience to work for the client. Jim has been married to his wife Barb for 36 years and has 3 children Aubrey, Blayne, and Aileen two Grandchildren Lincoln and Clark.
Jennifer Christopher, Broker Owner
Jennifer was raised in the Lincoln-Way area. She attended St. Mary School in Mokena, Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox and went on to study Communications and Business at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame. Upon graduation from college, Jennifer began working for McEnery Enterprises, a privately owned company headquartered in Frankfort, IL. Jennifer started in new product development and worked her way to Director of Real Estate Development.
As Director of Real Estate Development, Jennifer was responsible for acquiring property, zoning, permitting, construction costs, licensing and property management. Real estate developments included Gas City, Steel City, Petro, BP, Green Garden C.C., Creamery, Steamboat, Iron Horse Express, Holiday Inn Express and Gracie's Station in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona and Florida. Jennifer was instrumental in both the new and redesign of the several brands and company images.
For many years, Jennifer contemplated becoming a licensed Real Estate Broker and had hopes of someday opening her own Independent Real Estate Company. Jennifer earned her Broker's License in 2013 and in February 2015 opened Oak Leaf Realty along with her two partners. Jennifer is proud to be working in the Village of Frankfort again and looks forward to growing Oak Leaf Realty. Jennifer has earned several designations: CSC - Certified Staging Consultant, GRI - Graduate Realtor Institute, PSA - Pricing Strategy Advisor and SRES - Senior Real Estate Specialist. Jennifer currently resides in Homer Glen with her husband and child.
Linda Shafer, Broker Owner
Linda Shafer has been a full-time Realtor for more than 30 years. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana, with a Bachelor of Science degree in the College of Communications. She has several designations which give her the additional knowledge to help you sell or buy property: ABR, Accredited Buyer Representative, CRS, the Council of Residential Specialists (only 5% of all Realtors have a CRS), GRI, Graduate Realtor Institute, SFR, Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource, and SRS, Seller Resource Specialist.
Linda has been active in both the local and Illinois Realtor associations. She served as president of Three Rivers Association in 2000, and president of the Illinois CRS chapter in 2005. Linda was the local association "Realtor of the Year" in 2010. She resides in Mokena with her husband. Spending time with her grandchildren and golf are two activities Linda enjoys.