Lance Bass Says Shady Realtor Swindled Him Out of Buying the ‘Brady Bunch’ House
Celebrities

Lance Bass Says Shady Realtor Swindled Him Out of Buying the ‘Brady Bunch’ House

Written by Dan Avery on August 5, 2018
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The Brady Bunch house went on sale this summer, sparking a high-stakes bidding war for the property, used for exteriors on the iconic show, which ran from 1969 to 1974. The house, located at 11222 Dilling Street in Studio City, was listed on Zillow with a price tag of $1.89 million.

Eight people and no toilet?

On Friday evening, out entertainer Lance Bass revealed his was the winning bid.

“Super excited to announce they accepted my offer on the #BradyBunch house last night!!!” Bass tweeted “This is going to be a fun project!”

There had been another round of bidding this week after the home owner’s countered a recent offer. On Saturday, EW reported the house had entered escrow, though Douglas Elliman realtor Ernie Carswell could not state the buyer’s identity.

Carswell did admit the former NSYNC member “submitted one of the multiple offers received on the property.”

At first all seemed well: Maureen McCormick, a.k.a Marcia Brady, congratulated Bass on landing the property.

Property Brothers‘ Jonathan Scott revealed he’d also bid on the house.

“I’m a little bummed that you out bid me (seriously) as I really wanted that house, but I’m very excited you’re taking on this project. Let me know if you want any help 🙂 @hgtv #bradybunchhome #IconicDreamHome.”

But before Bass could pop the champagne, someone else swept in and grabbed the house from under him: “Due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’ the same agent informed us that there’s another Corporate Buyer (Hollywood studio) who wants the house at any cost,” he wrote in a lengthy Instagram. Bass insists that Carswell’s office confirmed his team had the winning bid after the deadline passed, “even writing up the ‘winning bid’ for my team after informing me of the good news.”

Bass, who planned to remodel the interior but leave the famous exterior alone, claims his bid was well over the asking price, and his team willing to go even higher, but were discouraged by the agent, who told them the corporate client “will outperform any bid with unlimited resources.”

“How is this fair or legal? How can I compete with a billion-dollar corporate entity?” Bass wrote. “I truly believe I was used to drive up the price of the home knowing very well that this corporation intended on making their offer and it’s not a good feeling.”

This time it’s (not) gonna be me.

He wrote he felt “used” and was saddened by outcome. “I just hope it is not demolished.”

But Carswell told the L.A. Times the sellers hadn’t made a final decision from among three remaining offers.

There had been concern the Brady Bunch house would be bought by developers and demolished. But Berkshire Hathaway realtor Jodie Levitus Francisco, who was also fielding offers, said the current owners weren’t interested in selling to developers and that “any builder would face such a tremendous backlash” if they tore it home.

Violet and George McCallister bought the two-bedroom, three-bathroom house in 1973 for $61,000. While it only has two bedrooms, $1.85 million is relatively low for the area, where houses are routinely listed for more than $2 million.

On Zillow, the listing described the Brady Bunch house as “the second-most photographed home in the United States” after the White House.

real estate

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