Here’s How Much You Need to Make to Afford the Newly Renovated Real-Life Brady Bunch House

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The recognizable home has been completely renovated and listed for sale. Read on to learn how to cover the mortgage. 

If you’re a fan of The Brady Bunch, you probably remember what the iconic house looked like. While many of the interior scenes from the popular 1970s sitcom were filmed on a soundstage, the property used for exterior shots for the show still exists in North Hollywood. After a massive renovation, the real-life version of the TV show property went on the market this spring. Find out how much you need to make to afford this incredible Brady Bunchesque property.

Here’s the story of a $5.5 million Brady Bunch home

The newly renovated home is located at 11222 Dilling Street in Studio City, California. With more than 5,000 sq. ft., the gorgeous mid-century property features five bedrooms and five bathrooms. It has big windows and soaring ceilings and is fully furnished with vintage-inspired accessories and furniture — move-in-ready for the bunch who buys it.

The entire property was renovated to be a near replica of the original TV set home that we all know and love. Purchased in 2018 by HGTV, viewers saw the home renovation process on HGTV’s A Very Brady Renovation. Along with cast members, renovation experts worked to transform the spacious, two-story property. The home was listed in May 2023 for $5.5 million and is under contract as of July 20, 2023.

What your mortgage payment might look like

While the home was listed for $5.5 million, Zillow estimates the property is worth $5,228,300. It’s worth noting that a home’s listing price or estimated home value isn’t a sure way to gauge a home’s value. Instead, a home appraisal is the best way to determine the value of a property.

For simplicity, we’ll assume a property value of $5.2 million. You’d likely need to finance your home purchase with a mortgage at that price tag. When buying a home, experts recommend making at least a 20% down payment to avoid private mortgage insurance (PMI) fees.

Home loan interest rates are constantly in flux. Factors like your income level, credit score, and debt determine what type of interest rate you’ll qualify for when applying for a mortgage. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis documents the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate over the last 30 years. At the time of writing, the rate is 6.81%.

I used The Ascent’s mortgage calculator to estimate the monthly mortgage cost for this home using a 6.81% interest rate. If you purchased The Brady Bunch home for $5.2 million and made a 20% down payment, you’d put down $1,040,000 and finance the remaining $4,160,000. The estimated monthly payment for a home like this is around $33,773, including estimated homeowners insurance and property tax expenses.

Before buying a home, no matter the price point, you’ll want to ensure you have extra money set aside in a high-yield savings account. You want to feel confident you can afford other necessary homeownership expenses like maintenance and repair costs. Being house poor is not ideal.

You can afford The Brady Bunch home with a $1.7 million salary

A mortgage payment of $33,773 is a massive monthly expense. You’d want to make sure you can comfortably afford it — so having a big salary is a must. Experts recommend spending less than 28% of your gross income on housing expenses. That $1.7 million salary leaves you with monthly housing costs of under 25%, to account for additional bills like utilities and other everyday expenses.

With a monthly mortgage payment of around $33,773, you could afford The Brady Bunch home on a $1.7 million annual salary. Your mortgage payment would be about 24% of your income — allowing you to pay your other bills while continuing to prioritize your personal finance goals. Of course, a higher salary would afford you an even more comfortable life.

Now you know what you’d need to make to live in a real-life version of The Brady Bunch home. Living here wouldn’t be cheap, but it would be a fantastic property to call your own.

Are you considering buying a home? Review our list of the best mortgage lenders to learn more.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Natasha Gabrielle has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Zillow Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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