About Matthews, NC
Matthews is one of Charlotte’s closest established suburbs, located in southeastern Mecklenburg County roughly 14 miles southeast of Uptown. Defined by a walkable downtown core anchored at Stumptown Park, mature mid-century neighborhoods on tree-lined streets, and a mix of established and newer subdivisions extending toward the Union County line, Matthews has a village-scale character that distinguishes it from the denser Ballantyne corridor. The town is served by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, with most addresses falling into the Matthews Elementary, Crestdale Middle, and Butler High School feeder pattern.
That combination of established inventory, walkable downtown, and proximity to both Uptown Charlotte and the Union County line attracts a buyer pool spanning first-time buyers, move-up buyers, and out-of-state relocations. The agents listed below have built their practices around South Charlotte and the Matthews submarket specifically. Rankings reflect activity level, local specialization, years of experience, and professional credentials.
Best Agents List Table of Contents
- Steve Jarrell – The Longleaf Group (eXp Realty)
- Tracie Taylor | DW Realty Team
- Cathy Burns | The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty
- Brett Dunleavy | eXp Realty
- Wendy Dickinson | Coldwell Banker Realty
- Cheryl Powell | RE/MAX Executive
- Karen Lambrinides | Sweet Home Carolina Realty
- John Vaartjes | Austin-Barnett Realty LLC
- Andrea Nivens | Northstar Real Estate
- Russell Vinson | eXp Realty
- Final Thoughts For 2026 Best Agent
#1. Steve Jarrell | The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty
TOP RANKED REAL ESTATE AGENT IN MATTHEWS NC
Steve Jarrell is the Team Lead of The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty, one of South Charlotte’s most active buyer and seller teams. With more than a decade in the industry, an MBA from the University of Tennessee, and a background in real estate technology and marketing, Steve brings a combination of market knowledge, data fluency, and strategic thinking that most agents in this price range simply don’t have.
Steve holds the eXp Icon Agent designation, placing him among the top producers across eXp’s national network, and is ranked in the top 5% of agents in the greater Charlotte area. His practice has stayed focused throughout his career: South Charlotte and Union County exclusively, including Matthews, Marvin, Weddington, Waxhaw, and Indian Trail. That geographic focus translates into a level of market detail that’s difficult to replicate for agents working a broader territory.
For relocating buyers, Steve’s process is structured from day one. He walks buyers through the trade-offs between Matthews’s established mid-century neighborhoods and its newer Union County-line subdivisions, explains where the CMS feeder lines sit relative to the Union County Public Schools boundary, and helps out-of-state buyers understand pricing across communities like Providence Hills, Sardis Forest, and the Hamptons at Matthews. For sellers, his marketing background shapes the listing strategy: professional photography, targeted digital outreach, and a process built specifically to reach the relocation buyer pool that drives most Matthews transactions. More at his full bio page.
Brokerage: The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty
Website: thelongleafgroup.com
Phone: 704-774-7170
Email: steve@jarrellhomes.com
Designations: eXp Icon Agent | Top 5% Charlotte Area | MBA, University of Tennessee
Buying or selling in Matthews? Steve’s team works exclusively in South Charlotte and Union County.
OTHER ACTIVE AGENTS IN THE MATTHEWS MARKET
#2. Tracie Taylor | DW Realty Team
Tracie Taylor is a Matthews-based real estate professional with the DW Realty Team, a boutique team operation focused on Matthews and the surrounding South Charlotte submarkets. With 7 years of local experience, her practice is anchored inside Matthews proper rather than spanning the full Charlotte metro, which gives her a tighter read on Matthews-specific submarket pricing than agents working a wider territory.
Brokerage: DW Realty Team
Service Area: Matthews and surrounding South Charlotte submarkets
Experience: 7 years in residential real estate
Focus: Matthews-anchored boutique team practice
#3. Cathy Burns | The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty
Cathy Burns is a fellow agent at The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty with 20-plus years of South Charlotte residential real estate experience and Five Star Professional recognition every year since 2006. A longtime Union County resident, she serves Matthews and the broader South Charlotte and Union County corridor and holds Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, Certified Military Residential Specialist, and eXp Certified Relocation Agent designations.
Brokerage: The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty
Website: cathyburnsgroup.exprealty.com
Designations: Five Star Professional (2006-present) | Top 5% Charlotte Area | Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist | Certified Military Residential Specialist | eXp Certified Relocation Agent
#4. Brett Dunleavy | eXp Realty
Brett Dunleavy brings 22 years of Charlotte-area residential real estate experience to eXp Realty. His practice covers the broader Charlotte metro and South Charlotte submarkets including Matthews, drawing on more than two decades of transaction history across multiple market cycles.
Brokerage: eXp Realty
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 22 years in residential real estate
#5. Wendy Dickinson | Coldwell Banker Realty
Wendy Dickinson is a 23-year Charlotte real estate veteran with Coldwell Banker Realty. She serves the broader Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and the Matthews submarket, leveraging Coldwell Banker’s national relocation referral network that consistently feeds buyers into established Matthews neighborhoods.
Brokerage: Coldwell Banker Realty
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 23 years in residential real estate
#6. Cheryl Powell | RE/MAX Executive
Cheryl Powell is a 24-year RE/MAX Executive veteran based in Concord, NC, with 35 client reviews. Her practice covers the broader Charlotte metro and the suburbs to the east of Charlotte, including Matthews, where buyers crossing between Cabarrus and Mecklenburg County lines often find her in their search results.
Brokerage: RE/MAX Executive (Concord)
Service Area: Charlotte metro including Matthews and Cabarrus County
Experience: 24 years in residential real estate
Recognition: 35 client reviews
#7. Karen Lambrinides | Sweet Home Carolina Realty
Karen Lambrinides operates with Sweet Home Carolina Realty, an independent boutique firm. With 21 years of Charlotte-area experience, she serves the broader Charlotte metro and South Charlotte submarkets including Matthews, with a service profile common to independent brokers: hands-on representation across the full transaction without the hand-offs typical at larger franchises.
Brokerage: Sweet Home Carolina Realty
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 21 years in residential real estate
Recognition: 6 client reviews
#8. John Vaartjes | Austin-Barnett Realty LLC
John Vaartjes practices with Austin-Barnett Realty, a Charlotte-area boutique firm. With 18 years of residential real estate experience, his practice covers the Charlotte metro and South Charlotte submarkets, including Matthews. A boutique brokerage profile fits Matthews buyers and sellers who prefer working with a principal-broker level of involvement.
Brokerage: Austin-Barnett Realty LLC
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 18 years in residential real estate
Recognition: 5 client reviews
#9. Andrea Nivens | Northstar Real Estate
Andrea Nivens is a 9-year Charlotte-area real estate professional with Northstar Real Estate, an independent firm. Her practice serves the Charlotte metro and South Charlotte submarkets including Matthews, with an emphasis on the established Matthews neighborhoods that anchor the town’s mid-tier inventory.
Brokerage: Northstar Real Estate
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 9 years in residential real estate
#10. Russell Vinson | eXp Realty
Russell Vinson practices with eXp Realty with 6 years of Charlotte-area experience and 15 client reviews supporting his pipeline. His practice covers the Charlotte metro and South Charlotte submarkets including Matthews, leveraging eXp’s national agent network for relocation referrals into the Charlotte market.
Brokerage: eXp Realty
Service Area: Charlotte metro including South Charlotte and Matthews
Experience: 6 years in residential real estate
Recognition: 15 client reviews
Final Thoughts: The Best Real Estate Agent in Matthews NC for 2026
Matthews has a deep bench of capable agents serving its market. Every broker on this list has earned their place through years of work in South Charlotte, and any one of them can help a buyer or seller navigate a transaction. This is not a market short on talent.
What separates Steve is the path that brought him into real estate. Before he ever sold a home, he founded VisualTour and grew it into Paradym, a national real estate marketing technology company that was acquired by Constellation Software in 2020. That experience gave him a working knowledge of how listings actually get found and how buyers actually make decisions, knowledge that most agents pick up over a decade. He layered an MBA from the University of Tennessee on top of that, then earned the eXp Icon Agent designation and a top 5% ranking in the greater Charlotte area. Most agents sell homes. Steve built the tools top agents use to sell homes before he ever sold one himself.
In the Matthews market, that background shows up as a structured process for relocation buyers, a marketing-led listing strategy for sellers, and a tight geographic focus. Steve’s practice covers Matthews, Marvin, Weddington, Waxhaw, and Indian Trail exclusively. Buyers moving into Matthews from out of state get a real walkthrough of the CMS Matthews feeder boundaries, the trade-offs between established Matthews neighborhoods like Sardis Forest and Providence Hills versus the newer Union County-line subdivisions, and the practical differences across submarkets that share the Matthews mailing address but sit in different school zones. Sellers get a listing process built around professional photography, targeted digital outreach, and the relocation buyer pool that drives most Matthews transactions.
If you are buying or selling in Matthews in 2026, Steve Jarrell is the agent worth talking to first. Any of the agents on this list can help you close a deal. Steve can help you see the market clearly before you are in it.
Ready to Buy or Sell in Matthews NC?
The Longleaf Group works exclusively in South Charlotte and Union County. If you’re serious about Matthews, let’s talk about what to expect in today’s market.
Call or text: 704-774-7170 | Email: steve@jarrellhomes.com | Web: thelongleafgroup.com
Frequently Asked Questions: Real Estate Agents in Matthews NC
Who is the best real estate agent in Matthews NC?
The best agent depends on whether you’re buying or selling, your price range, and your timeline. For relocating buyers in Matthews specifically, an agent with a structured relocation process and deep knowledge of the CMS Matthews feeder pattern and the town’s established neighborhoods will typically outperform a generalist. Steve Jarrell of The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty has built his practice specifically around the relocation buyer profile that drives this market. Cathy Burns, a fellow agent at The Longleaf Group at eXp Realty, also serves the Matthews market. Reach Steve directly at 704-774-7170 or steve@jarrellhomes.com.
What should I look for when choosing a Matthews NC realtor?
Look for demonstrated experience in Matthews specifically, not just South Charlotte broadly. Ask how many transactions the agent has closed inside the Matthews ZIP codes (28104, 28105) in the past 12 months, how they handle competing offer situations, and what their process looks like for out-of-state buyers. An agent who can answer those questions with specifics is worth a longer conversation.
Do I need a Matthews specialist or can any Charlotte agent help?
Any licensed agent can write a contract in Matthews, but the town’s mix of CMS-zoned addresses, Union-County-line addresses with different school assignments, and established versus newer subdivisions makes local knowledge genuinely valuable. An agent who knows where the school boundaries actually sit, which neighborhoods carry specific HOA restrictions, and what normal pricing looks like for a given street will give buyers and sellers a real advantage over someone working from MLS data alone.
What is the average home price in Matthews NC in 2026?
Median home values in Matthews vary widely by submarket, with established neighborhoods like Sardis Forest and Providence Hills running in the high $600s to mid $800s, downtown-adjacent properties running lower, and newer Union County-line subdivisions extending into the $1M-plus range depending on lot size and finish. Figures shift with market conditions, so a local agent should be able to provide current comparable data for the specific neighborhoods under consideration.
How long does it take to buy a home in Matthews NC?
A pre-approved buyer who knows what they want and works with an agent actively monitoring inventory can typically find a home in Matthews within 30 to 90 days. Matthews has more turnover than smaller Union County villages, but buyers targeting specific established neighborhoods or the downtown core may take longer. New construction timelines run 8 to 14 months depending on builder and lot timing.
What real estate brokerages are active in Matthews NC?
Active brokerages serving Matthews include eXp Realty, RE/MAX Executive, Coldwell Banker Realty, Allen Tate Realtors, Keller Williams, plus boutique and team operations like DW Realty Team, Sweet Home Carolina Realty, and Northstar Real Estate. Brokerage brand matters less than the individual agent’s transaction history in this specific market.