The original house used in the Home Alone films on November 8, 2021.
Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
A number of iconic homes are up for sale – and buyers will almost certainly pay a premium for this pedigree.
But that premium is difficult to quantify because some uber-wealthy buyers will pay almost anything to own a piece of pop culture, according to real estate experts.
“It’s like owning a Picasso” or Fabergé egg, said Tomer Fridman, a Los Angeles-based real estate agent who specializes in luxury and celebrity homes.
“You’re buying something that’s super unique and very rare,” he said.
Buy for “Hollywood Seal of Approval”
Recent notable listings include: The Victorian home featured in the sitcom “Full House” hit the market in San Francisco on Thursday for $6.5 million. Last month, the Home Alone home — the brick property famously booby-trapped by character Kevin McCallister — was listed for $5.25 million.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s first New York home, a two-story SoHo loft, also hit the market in May for $5.5 million. The Los Angeles home of the late Paul Reubens, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman, is also up for sale, for about $5 million.
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Luxury home prices recently hit a record high. Real estate experts say the super-rich are largely spared from high mortgage rates because many can afford to do cash deals.
Famous homes generally command even higher prices than their market equivalents, these experts said.
Josh Altman, a luxury real estate agent in Los Angeles who appears on the Bravo show “Million Dollar Listing,” estimates that the premium can be perhaps 5 to 10 percent if the home is tied to a “well-known” celebrity.
“There’s definitely that Hollywood cachet of ‘I bought so-and-so the house,'” Altman said. His company’s clients included stars such as Justin Bieber, James Cameron, Alicia Keys and Britney Spears.
“Home Alone” is “one of the most famous films of all time,” he added. “I think that will definitely get a premium.”
The rich often pay “whatever it takes”
The final price of such homes generally doesn’t matter to their uber-wealthy buyers, said Fridman, who has sold properties owned by celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Sylvester Stallone, as well as Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott.
Many view the home as a collector’s item and make an “emotional purchase,” Fridman said.
Sellers can command a premium on a particular famous property by initially setting an unimaginable price or if potential buyers get into a bidding war, experts say.
“You’re one of one,” said Amanda Pendleton, home trends expert at Zillow. “Some people with means will pay whatever it takes to own that house.”
Fans gather for photos at 1709 Broderick Street, the house depicted in the filming of the TV show “Full House.”
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
The listing for the Home Alone estate outside Chicago commemorates its collector status and underscores the “rare opportunity to own one of the most iconic film residences in American pop culture.”
An offer on that home is pending and was made within a week of going on the market, said Andrea Gillespie, spokeswoman for Coldwell Banker Real Estate. The sellers’ asking price is more than three times the $1.585 million they paid in 2012.
The listing for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s home – the first time it has been for sale in 53 years – also highlights the fame of its former residents.
“Every place they lived will have some value,” Philip Norman, author of the biography “John Lennon: The Life,” recently told The New York Times.
According to Architectural Digest, buyers of the “Full House” home will have the opportunity to receive handprints in concrete blocks of the series’ cast members, including Bob Saget and John Stamos.
Infamy also sells
“Infamy” can also fetch a higher price, said Arto Poladian, a Redfin luxury real estate agent in Los Angeles.
In 2021, Poladian sold the so-called LaBianca House – the house where Charles Manson’s followers killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969 – for $1.875 million.
The property’s high profile generated interest and attracted more potential buyers – “and ultimately with that interest you get a slightly higher premium than without it,” Poladian said.
The listing was aimed at buyers such as “history buffs” or those who “wanted to reimagine one of LA’s most unique properties.”
It’s like owning a Picasso.
Tom Friedman
Luxury real estate agent
Sometimes even proximity to a famous residence can be helpful, he added. For example, in 2018 he sold the house next to the one where the original film “The Karate Kid” was filmed.
“Any type of famous house — or a house next to a famous house — will pique the interest of potential buyers and onlookers,” he said.
“There is sometimes a cap on what superfans are willing to pay,” Pendleton said.
She cited the “Brady Bunch” house as an example: The Studio City, Calif., home — which was remodeled to look exactly like the house in the TV series — sold for about $3.2 in 2023 after months on the market million dollars sold; It was listed for $5.5 million.
The advertising associated with certain properties is likely a “deterrent” to some potential buyers, Pendleton said.
Likewise, a superstar’s home won’t fetch as high a price if it isn’t updated and move-in ready, Poladian said.
For example, in 2021, Kanye West – the rapper who now goes by Ye – bought a mega-mansion in Malibu, California for $57.3 million. He listed the home for $53 million last year but recently dropped the price to $39 million. (A contractor also sued West in January and a lien was placed on the property, potentially complicating a sale.)
“Kanye West can’t give away his Malibu house,” said Altman, the Los Angeles real estate agent.
Ultimately, however, the value of a home is in the eye of the beholder – be it a sprawling, prestigious estate or an ordinary bungalow.
“At the end of the day, a house is worth whatever the person is willing to pay for it,” Pendleton said.
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2024-06-09 13:00:01
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