The answer to the above question is: No, of course not, you sillyhead.
They don't sell faster and they don't sell for more money just because George Washington or Matt Damon slept here. (Well, maybe if Washington did.) But what does happen with celebrity-owned properties is that the mere fact that they are listed sets off a buzz and that buzz may lead to more showings. All that free publicity is a double-edged sword, since some of the interest comes from fans who can't begin to afford the property but just want a peek inside Britney Spears' house. That's when the careful screening of buyers by agents comes into play.
So what do we make of the fact that the home belonging to actress Beverly Garland sold in just 11 days for $100,000 more than its $1,765,000 asking price? Trust me, it had nothing to do with the lovely Ms. Garland, who's been dead for two years. The listing agents -- Michael Tunick and Julie Jones of Sotheby's International Realty's Sunset Boulevard office -- will no doubt clip this up to their wall, but the reality is: They priced it right. It sold quickly because it was priced to sell.
The home was built by architect Richard Dorman for Garland and her husband, Fillmore Crank, in 1959 on about a third of an acre. There is a main house, a detached guesthouse and a workshop for a grand total of 3,660 square feet. It also has a saltwater pool. Garland and Crank were the sole owners.
Garland played opposite Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons.
As far as how homes with a celebrity connection fare in the market, I've got my eye on the real-life Amityville Horror house -- the one now listed on Long Island for $1,115,000 where six members of the DeFeo family were murdered in their sleep in 1974. A subsequent owner of the house reported it haunted and hightailed out of there. So will ghosts and celebrity quotient add or detract from the listing price? Stay tuned.