Hot Property: Howie Mandel makes a deal for Encino acreage

Howie Mandel must be in the mood for a building project. He just purchased three acres of vacant residential property in Encino for the fire-sale price of $1.2 million.

No, that’s not just a turn of phrase. The home that was once on the site burned down, according to 2010 marketing materials in the Multiple Listing Service.

Among previous homeowners was singer-songwriter Annie Lennox of Eurythmics. She paid $1.4 million for the site, and house, in 1986.

Mandel, 58, is a judge on “America’s Got Talent” and has his own production company, Alevy Productions. The onetime stand-up comic has scores of television credits as an actor, producer and game show host. He was the mainstay of “Deal or No Deal” from 2005 to ’10.

Barry Sloane and Marc Silver of Sotheby’s International Realty handled the transaction.