The cost of buying famous TV and movie homes

A number of iconic homes are on the market, and buyers will almost certainly pay extra for the historic property.

But real estate experts say the premium is hard to quantify, with some ultra-wealthy buyers willing to pay any amount to own a piece of pop culture.

“It’s like owning a Picasso or a Faberge egg,” says Tomer Fridman, a Los Angeles-based real estate agent who specializes in luxury and celebrity homes.

“This is something very unique, very rare to buy,” he said.

Among recent notable sales is a Victorian-style home featured in the sitcom “Full House” that went on the market in San Francisco on Thursday for $6.5 million. Last month, a brick mansion where Kevin McCallister famously set his traps in “Home Alone” went on the market for $5.25 million.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s first New York home, a two-story loft in SoHo, also went on the market in May for $5.5 million. The Los Angeles home of the late Paul Reubens, best known for his Pee-wee Herman character, is also on the market for about $5 million.

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Luxury property prices recently hit record highs, and real estate experts say high mortgage rates have little impact on the ultra-wealthy, many of whom can afford all-cash deals.

Experts say prestigious homes typically command higher prices than comparable properties on the market.

Josh Altman, a Los Angeles luxury real estate agent who appears on the Bravo show “Million Dollar Listing,” estimates that if the home is associated with a “celebrity,” it will probably command a 5% to 10% premium.

“There’s definitely a Hollywood cachet of, ‘We bought so-and-so’s house,'” said Mr. Altman, whose firm’s clients include stars such as Justin Bieber, James Cameron, Alicia Keys and Britney Spears.

“Home Alone” is “one of the most famous movies of all time,” he added, “and in my opinion, it will definitely be a premiere movie.”

Fridman, who has sold properties for celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Sylvester Stallone, Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott, said the final price of such homes is typically not an issue for ultra-wealthy buyers.

Fridman said many people view the home as a collector’s item and make it an “sentimental purchase.”

Experts say sellers can earn a premium from certain prestigious properties by offering unrealistic prices initially, sparking bidding wars among potential buyers.

“They’re one of a kind,” says Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s housing trends expert, “and anyone with the means would pay whatever it takes to own one.”

The sale of the “Home Alone” property outside Chicago is being positioned as a collectible property, spotlighting it as “a rare opportunity to own one of the most iconic movie homes in American pop culture.”

The home received an offer within a week of being listed, according to Andrea Gillespie, a spokeswoman for Coldwell Banker Real Estate, and the seller’s asking price is more than triple the $1.585 million he paid for it in 2012.

This is the first time John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s home has been on the market in 53 years, but the property also highlights the prestige of its former residents.

“Wherever they lived there would have been some value,” Philip Norman, author of the biography “John Lennon: A Life,” recently told The New York Times.

According to Architectural Digest, buyers of “Full House” homes will have the option to have the handprints of the show’s cast members, including Bob Saget and John Stamos, engraved into a concrete boulder.

Arto Poradian of Los Angeles luxury real estate brokerage Redfin said properties with bad reputations can also sell for higher prices.

In 2021, Mr. Poladian sold the so-called LaBianca House, the home where followers of Charles Manson murdered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969, for $1.875 million.

The property’s high profile generated interest, attracting more potential buyers, “and ultimately, if there’s interest, you get a little bit more of a premium than if there wasn’t any interest,” Poradian said.

The property is tailored for buyers who are “history buffs” or “looking to re-create one of Los Angeles’ most unique properties with their own unique twist.”

Sometimes, he added, just being near a celebrity’s residence can help: In 2018, for example, he sold a home that was next door to the one used in filming the original “Karate Kid.”

“Any type of famous home, or a home next to a famous home, will attract interest from potential buyers and onlookers,” he said.

There may be a limit to how much enthusiasts are willing to pay, Pendleton said.

She gives the example of the Brady Bunch home, which was renovated in Studio City, California, to look exactly like the one in the TV show and sold in 2023 after several months on the market for about $3.2 million (it was originally asked for $5.5 million).

Pendleton said the publicity attached to certain properties can make them “unattractive” to some potential buyers.

Similarly, a superstar’s home probably wouldn’t command such a high price if it wasn’t renovated and move-in ready, Poradian said.

For example, rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye, bought a megamansion in Malibu, California, for $57.3 million in 2021. But he’s had trouble selling the house, gutting it and leaving it in disrepair. He put it on the market last year for $53 million, but recently lowered the price to $39 million. (A contractor sued West in January, leading to a foreclosure on the property, which could potentially complicate the sale.)

“Kanye West can’t give away his Malibu house,” said Altman, the Los Angeles real estate agent.

But ultimately, the value of a home, whether it’s a sprawling, prestigious mansion or a run-of-the-mill bungalow, is in the eye of the beholder.

“At the end of the day, a home’s value is determined by what someone is willing to pay,” Pendleton said.