Waterfront · Choosing an agent
How to choose a Lake Norman waterfront Realtor
Check four things before you hire anybody for a Lake Norman waterfront home: the license on the Real Estate Commission's own search, a sales record that states its period and its source, answers to the questions the water raises, and reviews you can read where they were posted. Sunny Yates's record is checked the same way on this page.
Sunny Yates by the numbers
502
homes sold since 2002
$268,577,718
in closed sales volume
23
years selling real estate on Lake Norman
134
of them in Cornelius, $95,788,379
364
of them in the seven Lake Norman towns, $214,703,735
52
sales at a million dollars and over, $107,887,433
168
sold as the listing agent, $102,791,933
$535,430
average sale price, against $344,404 across the whole MLS
both over her report's window, to 13 September 2026
5.0
from 60 Google reviews
4.9
from 63 Zillow reviews
4.9
from 26 Google (Yates Realty) reviews
Top 0.6%
ranked 102nd of roughly 18,000 Realtors in the Charlotte market for 2025, Charlotte Real Producers Top 250
North Carolina Real Estate Commission broker license 202205. Broker / Owner, Yates Realty. 19900 W Catawba Ave Ste 205, Cornelius, NC 28031. 704-737-1732
Sales figures from her Canopy MLS Agent Production and Inventory Report, pulled 13 September 2026, plus 1 closing since, from Canopy MLS as distributed by MLS GRID, as of 15 October 2026. Her average sale price and the MLS average are the report's own, to 13 September 2026. Based on information from Canopy MLS for the period September 13, 2000 through October 15, 2026 (34 towns and cities in the Canopy MLS region). Rating and review count from Google, 4 October 2026. Rating and review count from Zillow, 4 October 2026. Rating and review count from Google (Yates Realty), 4 October 2026. Ranking from Charlotte Real Producers, Class of 2026, for 2025 production.
How do I check that a Lake Norman agent is licensed?
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission licenses every real estate broker in the state, and its licensee searchis open to anybody. Search by name or by number and the record shows the license number, the type, whether it is active, the date it was issued and the firm the broker practices under. A broker whose license is not active may not act for you, and a firm name that does not match the one on the agent's sign is a question worth asking.
Sunny Yates's license is number 202205, issued 26 November 2002. The Commission's record shows it as active, with Yates Realty, firm license C14499, as her firm. The number is printed at the foot of every page of this site, so you can check it without asking her for it.
What does a real sales record look like?
An agent may publish her own closed sales, and Canopy MLS's rules say how. Section 12 requires anything built on Canopy's information to state the period of time it covers, in a notice that begins "Based on information from Canopy MLS for the period". The National Association of REALTORS' Standard of Practice 12-7 says that only the listing broker or the cooperating broker, the one who brought the buyer, may claim to have sold a property.
So a count with no period, no source, or no word about which side the agent was on is a claim rather than a record. Ask for the report it came from, and ask which of the sales were the agent's own listings.
Sunny Yates's record is on Previously sold: 502 closed sales for $268,577,718, 168 of them as the listing agent and 334 on the buying side, every row with its side, off her own Canopy MLS Agent Production and Inventory Report. Based on information from Canopy MLS for the period September 13, 2000 through October 15, 2026 (34 towns and cities in the Canopy MLS region).
What should a Lake Norman waterfront agent be able to answer?
A house on the water is two purchases, the house and the water, and the second one has its own rules and its own paperwork. Ask any agent these, and listen for whether each answer names who it comes from. Every one is on the Lake Norman waterfront checklist, with who answers it.
- Where is the full pond line on this lot, and what does the drawdown do to it? Duke Energy publishes the lake’s level every day on its lake levels page, measured against full pond. An agent should know the difference between the level on the day you visit and the level in a dry autumn.
- How deep is the water at the end of the dock in a dry year? The seller has watched it for years. Ask them, and ask your agent what they saw when they stood on the dock.
- Is the dock permitted, and how does the permit pass to a buyer? Duke Energy’s Lake Services permits the docks on this lake. Nobody, me included, should paraphrase its rules: the answer is Duke’s, in writing.
- Main channel or cove? Open water, wind and wake on one side; shelter and a narrower view on the other; and the bridges between a cove and open water decide which boats can make the trip.
- Is the house in a flood zone? The map that counts is FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center, where anybody can look an address up.
- Which buffer rules apply? In Mecklenburg County they are the Charlotte-Mecklenburg stream and lake buffer requirements, whose lake buffers are measured from full pond, and the state runs its own riparian buffer protection program. For the distances, read the ordinance itself.
- Which county, town and school district is the parcel in? Four counties touch this lake, and the county decides the tax rate and the schools. Each Lake Norman address is assigned to its county’s school district, or in Mooresville to one of two. School assignments change, so confirm the current one with the district’s own locator before you rely on it.
An agent who answers these from memory, without saying where the answer comes from, is guessing on your behalf.
How are an agent's reviews checked?
A rating printed on an agent's own site is evidence only when its source and the date it was read are beside it, and a link goes to the place the reviews were written, where you can read them under the names of the people who wrote them. A score with none of that is a number the agent chose to print.
Sunny Yates's is 5.0 from 60 Google reviews, read 4 October 2026, and her Google Business Profile is where those reviews are. The ones moved onto this site, word for word, are on her testimonials page.
Who is the best waterfront Realtor on Lake Norman?
Sunny Yates is in the Charlotte Real Producers Top 250, Class of 2026, for 2025 production and rated 5.0 from 60 Google reviews, read 4 October 2026, 4.9 from 63 Zillow reviews, read 4 October 2026, and 4.9 from 26 Google (Yates Realty) reviews, read 4 October 2026. She has closed 502 sales for $268,577,718, 52 at a million and over. No ranking of Lake Norman agents by waterfront sales is published, so nobody can claim that title, this site included.
One kind of ranking this site will print: one with the body that made it, the year and the market it ranked, like Sunny Yates's Charlotte Real Producers Top 250, Class of 2026, for 2025 production, which is set out on her About page.
How are Lake Norman's top agents ranked, and where does Sunny Yates stand?
Nobody ranks Lake Norman agents as a group. What gets quoted is a body that ranks a named market for a stated year, a directory ordered by the reviews written on it, rankings on figures agents submit, lists with no stated data, and Canopy MLS's own market share report, which a member pulls for a stated period and area. Each is worth what its basis is. Where Sunny Yates stands in the ones that name her:
- Charlotte Real Producers Top 250, Class of 2026: ranked 102nd of roughly 18,000 Realtors in the Charlotte market for 2025 production, the top 0.6%.
- HomeLight listed Sunisay Yates 6th of 40 on its Cornelius top real estate agents page, which HomeLight orders by the count of reviews on its own site, read 1 October 2026. Source: HomeLight, Top Real Estate Agents in Cornelius, NC.
- HomeLight listed Sunisay Yates 4th of 40 on its Lake Norman of Catawba top real estate agents page, which HomeLight orders by the count of reviews on its own site, read 1 October 2026. Source: HomeLight, Top Real Estate Agents in Lake Norman of Catawba, NC.
- HomeLight listed Sunisay Yates 4th of 40 on its Davidson top real estate agents page, which HomeLight orders by the count of reviews on its own site, read 1 October 2026. Source: HomeLight, Top Real Estate Agents in Davidson, NC.
No body publishes a ranking of Lake Norman agents by sales. The one way to state one is Canopy MLS's own market share report, pulled by a member for a stated period and area, and this site prints no such figure until one has been pulled.
How each kind of ranking works, and her record in the town she has sold the most in, is on top real estate agents in Cornelius, checked.
What has Sunny Yates sold on the water?
Sunny Yates was the listing agent on 16403 Pinwhenny in Cornelius, a vacant waterfront lot that sold for $2,500,000 in February 2022. The Salisbury Post reported the next month that it was "a sales price record for a residential waterfront on Lake Norman". 52 of her 502 sales closed at a million dollars and over.
Her production report has no waterfront field, so no count of her waterfront sales is claimed here or anywhere on this site. Where the waterfront neighborhoods are, and what to check in each, is on Lake Norman waterfront homes.
Lake Norman waterfront questions for an agent
How many million dollar homes has Sunny Yates sold?
52 of my 502 sales closed at a million dollars or more, $107,887,433 between them. The figure comes from my own Canopy MLS production report and my closings since, which the proof block on every page of this site is read from. Above a million the buyers are fewer and slower, and pricing and patience matter more than anywhere else on the lake.
What is full pond on Lake Norman?
760 feet above sea level. Duke Energy's lake level data gives Lake Norman's normal full pond as 760.0 feet, and its gauge shows the same level as 100 feet, so a reading of 97.5 is two and a half feet below full. When you look at a dock, ask where the water sits at the low end of Duke's range, not on the day you visit.
Where can I check the Lake Norman water level?
On Duke Energy's lake level page, by phone on 800-829-5253, which Duke spells 800.829.LAKE, or in Duke's free Lake View app. Those are the figures that matter, because Duke runs the lake. Levels are given against a full pond of 100 feet on Duke's gauge. I check before every waterfront showing in a dry autumn, and so should you.
Do I need a permit for a dock on Lake Norman?
Almost certainly, and it comes from Duke Energy rather than from the county. Duke owns or controls the lakebed, and it says a permit is most likely needed to build, maintain or change a lake structure or stabilize the shoreline; boating, fishing and swimming need none. Applications go through Duke's online Lake Access Permit System, and a Lake Services representative inspects the property.
Does a dock permit transfer to me when I buy the house?
Not by itself. The new owner applies to transfer it through Duke Energy's Lake Access Permit System, and a Lake Services representative inspects the dock to confirm it was permitted and has not been changed without Duke's approval. Duke says the current owner will likely be responsible for correcting anything that was. That is why I want the paperwork early in due diligence.
Sources for this guide
- North Carolina Real Estate Commission, licensee search, read 30 September 2026
- North Carolina Real Estate Commission, licensee record 202205, read 30 September 2026
- Canopy MLS Rules and Regulations, Section 12, read 30 September 2026
- National Association of REALTORS, 2026 Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 12-7, read 30 September 2026
- Duke Energy, Permits for Shoreline Activities, read 27 September 2026
- Duke Energy Lake Levels, Lake Norman, read 27 September 2026
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center, read 30 September 2026
- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Stream and Lake Buffer Requirements, overview, read 30 September 2026
- NC DEQ, Riparian Buffer Protection Program, read 30 September 2026
- Canopy MLS Agent Production and Inventory Report, Sunisay Yates, published as her sold record, read 13 September 2026
- Salisbury Post, Biz Roundup: Yates sells vacant Lake Norman lot for $2.5 million, read 30 September 2026
- Google Business Profile, Sunny Yates Realty, read 13 September 2026
