What Would It Cost To Own These Famous TV Homes?

May 4, 2016 - 4 min read

These TV Homes Would Be A Stretch For Their Fictional Residents

The houses that are currently featured on popular TV shows are much more grand than what homes used to be. While the average salaries have increased, most characters still wouldn’t be able to afford their homes.

I mean Danny Tanner passing his house off to his daughter D.J. when he could have made decent money by selling the $2.5 million home. Really?

While the shows are currently on air, we are going to look at the monthly payments of these characters when the shows first aired.

This is the final installment of a three-piece series about the monthly mortgage payments of famous TV show homes. The payments assume a 30-year fixed-rate conventional mortgage and the average mortgage rate for the year each show started. Calculations are based on a 20% down payment.

Part three of this series discusses TV shows that are currently on the air.

Verify your new rate

1. Grey’s Anatomy

TV Character Homes: Grey's Anatomy
Image Source: Google Maps

Meredith Grey acquires her home at the beginning of the series from her mother who is ill with Alzheimer’s. This home becomes known as the “intern house” where various interns live during the beginning of the series.

While her mother would have had to make the downpayment, Meredith would have had to take over the monthly payments once her mother fell ill. Seeing as though she was a surgical intern just out of med school, she was probably making around $47,000 a year.

She would not have been able to afford these monthly payments. It is unlikely the other interns would have volunteered to help make these payments. They were also making almost no money after their med school student loans.

  • Grey's Profession: Surgical Intern
  • Estimated Salary: $47,000
  • 2005 Average Mortgage Rates: 5.87%
  • Monthly Payment: $9,046
  • 20% Downpayment: $313,137
  • Estimated Price: $1,565,683, according to REALTOR.com
  • Location: 303 Comstock St. Seattle, WA 98119
Verify your new rate

2. Modern Family

TV Character Homes: Modern Family
Image Source: Realtor.com

Seeing that he always loses potential clients to his real estate enemy, Gil Thorpe, it is assumed that Phil Dunphy is a fairly average REALTOR(R). The average annual salary for a real estate agent in Los Angeles is around $42,000, which we can assume is around what Phil is making.

This salary doesn’t include any bonuses that Phil may be making, but even if those bonuses were included, he still wouldn’t be able to afford this house.

  • Phil's Profession: Realtor
  • Estimated Salary: $42,962
  • 2009 Average Mortgage Rates: 5.04%
  • Monthly Payment: $11,939
  • 20% Downpayment: $446,490
  • Estimated Price: $2,232,448, according to REALTOR.com
  • Location: 10336 Dunleer Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90064

3. New Girl

TV Character Homes: New Girl
Image Source: Google Maps

Each person in the loft would have to pay around $848 a month for rent. Jess, Coach, Schmidt, and Winston would all be able to afford their portion of the rent, plus have extra for utilities, car payments, and any other expenses they would have to pay that month.

On the other hand, it is questionable if Nick will be able to live there. Nick works as a bartender at a local restaurant, yet he rarely works and others in the loft often reference to how poor he is. The only way Nick could afford the loft is if one of his other roommates was paying for it.

  • Professions: Vice Principal, Gym Teacher, Advertising for a Marketing Firm,, Police Officer, and Bartender
  • Combined Estimated Salaries: $265,231
  • Average Mortgage Rates in 2011: 4.45%
  • Monthly Rent: $3,390
  • Downpayment: N/A
  • Location: 837 Traction Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90013

4. Black-ish

TV Character Homes: Black-ish
Image Source: Google Maps

Andre (Dre) Johnson works as an advertising executive at Stevens and Lido and his wife, Rainbow works as an anesthesiologist for a combined annual income of around $365,000.

Even with the expenses of children and other monthly payments, the Johnson’s can actually afford their monthly payments. They would have had to save up a lot of money for a downpayment, but seeing that Rainbow makes over $250,000 a year, they could have easily been saving up for a few years.

  • Dre’s Profession: Advertising executive
  • Rainbow’s Profession: Anesthesiologist
  • Combined Estimated Salaries: $365,087
  • Average Mortgage Rates in 2014: 4.17%
  • Monthly Payment: $12,754
  • 20% Downpayment: $493,526
  • Estimated Price: $2,467,631, according to REALTOR.com
  • Location: 4175 Stansbury Ave. Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Verify your new rate

5. Fuller House

TV Character Homes: Fuller House
Image Source: Google Maps

In the first episode of Fuller House, Danny Tanner decides to take his home off the market and give it to his daughter D.J..

When he was first purchased the home, Danny would have had to put down a deposit of $504,945, money he probably didn’t have as a local news anchor. Seeing that he was the only source of income, there was no way he could have afforded this home while providing for three children.

Since D.J. didn’t have to worry about the downpayment, she has more money for monthly payments. Even if she refinanced to receive today’s current mortgage rates, D.J. wouldn’t be able to afford her monthly payments.

As a veterinarian, she is making around $94,000, which translates to a little over $7,000 a month. This amount is still $4,000 short of her monthly payments, making it possible for her to afford.

  • D.J.’s Profession: Veterinarian
  • Estimated Salary: $94,950
  • Average Mortgage Rates in April 2016: 3.58%
  • Monthly Payment: $11,760
  • 20% Downpayment in 1987: $504,945
  • Estimated Price: $2,524,723, according to REALTOR.com
  • Location: 1709 Broderick St. San Francisco, CA 94115

What Are Today’s Rates?

While these television characters probably couldn’t afford their homes, that doesn’t have to be your situation. Rates are low, making homes affordable for more families.

Get today’s live mortgage rates now. Your social security number is not required to get started, and all quotes come with access to your live mortgage credit scores.

Time to make a move? Let us find the right mortgage for you

The Newsdesk
Authored By: The Newsdesk
The Mortgage Reports contributor
The Mortgage Reports Newsdesk is a collection of hand-picked mortgage-market experts reporting today's most important and relevant news.