Sylvan Lake is an all-sports lake in Oakland County, along the main branch of the Clinton River west of Pontiac. The City of Sylvan Lake measures this lake at 485 acres and the connected Otter Lake, joined on the north, at 81 acres, 566 acres together. The Sylvan Otter Lake Association publishes 455 acres for Sylvan Lake and the same 81 for Otter, with a maximum depth of 70 feet. Shoreline runs through the City of Sylvan Lake, Keego Harbor, and Waterford Township, and the price follows the municipality and the way the deed meets the water.
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Oakland County's Water Resources Commissioner lists both Sylvan and Otter among the lakes with a court-set normal level. The county's weekly report for the structure is titled Sylvan-Otter Lake. The City of Sylvan Lake states the legal level at 928.7 feet in summer and 927.5 feet in winter, a drop of 1.2 feet. A dock measured in July is not the same dock in January. Cass Lake sits upstream. Cass Lake Road crosses that connection on a culvert over the Cass Lake/Otter Lake Canal, and Oakland County keeps a separate legal level for Cass Lake. A Cass Lake sale is not a Sylvan Lake comp, and an Otter Lake edge is not open Sylvan Lake frontage.
The City of Sylvan Lake is the small city on the southeast shore. It incorporated as a village in 1921 and as a city in 1947. The 2020 census counted 1,723 residents. City Hall's own mailing address is 1820 Inverness, Sylvan Lake, MI 48320, the Keego Harbor ZIP. Inside the city the school map splits. The city says Beverly, Warwick, Greer, Island Court, and a small part of Garland are in the West Bloomfield School District, and the rest of the city is in the Pontiac School District. Keego Harbor frontage and Waterford Township frontage carry those communities' tax bills. Read the municipality, the school district, and the tax bill off the address before anyone prices the house like an inland colonial.
How the house meets the water is the sale. Deeded frontage, a canal lot, and a city dock license are three different properties. The City of Sylvan Lake maintains about 166 boat dock spaces around the lake. A space comes off a wait list, is renewed every year, and lasts only while the holder lives in the city. That license is not a deed that touches the water. The city also keeps a resident boat ramp on Ferndale, next to the Oakland County Boat Club, which has been on the lake since 1912 and is a private club and marina, not a state launch. The Sylvan Otter Lake Association, which the city links from its lake page, tells boaters that traffic runs counter-clockwise and that the canals are no-wake. Open water, a no-wake canal, the Otter Lake edge, and a yearly city dock space are four different listings.
Hire MARK Z and the Z Real Estate Experts team at eXp Realty. A Sylvan Lake listing is a water-rights sale: deeded frontage on the open lake, a no-wake canal, the Otter Lake edge, or a City of Sylvan Lake dock license. The price comes from other sales on this lake, in the city, in Keego Harbor, or in Waterford Township. It does not come from Cass Lake, upstream across the Cass Lake Road culvert, and it does not come from an inland house in the 48320 ZIP.
The team has closed 6,000+ Metro Detroit homes, with over $1 billion in career volume, a 4.8-star rating from 780 Google reviews, and a top-10 worldwide ranking from The Wall Street Journal and RealTrends. You get a free valuation and a list price built from this shoreline. The Guaranteed Sold Program lists the house and backs it with a date you can plan around.
Cash Offer Now is a separate path, and only for homes that fit it — generally built after 1950 and valued between $15,000 and $750,000. Some houses on this lake fit that range. Homes built before 1950 do not, and frontage priced above the cap should be listed. Call (248) 890-7077 and we will put both numbers in front of you.
Current listings from the MLS, updated continuously.
These are waterfront listings in the City of Sylvan Lake. The lake also has shore in Keego Harbor and Waterford Township, and those addresses will not all appear here. The set can include Otter Lake, a canal, or a house with a city dock license instead of deeded frontage. Ask us to separate them before you use them as comps.
MARK Z and the Z Real Estate Experts team. Sylvan Lake is an all-sports lake west of Pontiac, with shore in the City of Sylvan Lake, Keego Harbor, and Waterford Township. The city measures the lake at 485 acres; the Sylvan Otter Lake Association publishes 455 acres and a 70-foot maximum depth. A seller needs comps from this lake — open frontage, a no-wake canal, the Otter Lake edge, or a city dock license — not a Cass Lake sale. Call (248) 890-7077 for a free valuation.
The same team. The public record is 6,000+ homes sold, over $1 billion in career volume, and 4.8 stars across 780 Google reviews. On Sylvan Lake that trust shows up as pricing the water itself, including the city's summer legal level of 928.7 feet and the winter level of 927.5 feet, and as a Guaranteed Sold Program when you want the sale buttoned down.
A qualified Sylvan Lake agent can tell deeded frontage from a no-wake canal, from the Otter Lake edge, and from one of the city's about 166 dock spaces, which are renewed yearly and are not a deed. That agent also reads the municipality off the address, and inside the city can tell West Bloomfield schools (Beverly, Warwick, Greer, Island Court, and a small part of Garland) from the Pontiac School District on the rest of the streets. That is the work MARK Z's team does on this shoreline.
Top dollar comes from pricing the actual water right — open frontage, a canal, Otter Lake, or a city dock license — against recent Sylvan Lake sales in the right municipality, then marketing that water to buyers who already want this lake. MARK Z's team does that work. Compare the list price with Cash Offer Now only when the home fits the program (built after 1950, value about $15,000 to $750,000). Frontage above that range, and homes built before 1950, should be listed.
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