Breaking onto the market: Walter White's house up for grabs for $4M

If Albuquerque has a holy grail for fans of “Breaking Bad,” it could be the unassuming suburban home that served as Walter White’s residence in the hit series. The current owner, who has lived in the house for more than 50 years, is selling the 1,900-square-foot home at a price tag of $4 million — a big leap from its $343,000 Zillow valuation.

“The $4 million valuation is based on the iconic value of the home and the worldwide notoriety,” said David Christensen, head of the Christensen Group, the team behind the listing. “We compared it to other properties featured in TV shows and movies and knew this would attract even more attention, given its significance to fans.”

Christensen said the property, located at 3828 Piermont NE, receives a steady flow of fan-driven traffic, with about 300 cars stopping by daily and up to 1,000 during events like Albuquerque’s Balloon Fiesta. Fans from as far away as Greece come to snap photos, at times tossing pizzas on the roof to reenact one of the show’s memorable moments — even prompting the owners to build a fence to dissuade pizza-throwers.

Having to repeatedly clean up pizzas from the roof wasn’t necessarily the driving factor behind selling.

For the owner, deciding to find a new home wasn’t an escape from the house’s fame, but rather an opportunity to “flip the chapter and start new,” Christensen said.

“It’s been a family home for decades,” he said. “Toward the end, (the owner) was caring for her parents here. And after they passed, she felt it was time to start fresh.”

The Journal was unable to reach the owner for comment.

While some homebuyers might not like the attention the home draws, the Christensen Group isn’t targeting the typical family looking for a residential property. The team sees the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house as a “global attraction,” appealing to buyers from outside New Mexico and possibly even outside the U.S.

“We’re looking at it more of an investment property,” said Christensen. “The likely buyer is someone looking to turn it into something for fans, like an Airbnb or a museum.”

Indeed, Christensen Group agent Sonya Avila described the sale as giving the property to the fans.

“I think the owner just felt like it’s time to give it up to the universe to see if there’s a way that this house could be kind of locked into the lexicon and given to the fans,” Avila said.

The listing can be found at walterwhiteshouse.com.