6 foot 3 inch ceilings

[norapp]

Besides the obvious ansi dilema, I am at a loss how to value this home. It was built in 1880 and is located along the NY/Vermont border. Tax records show 1648 sf. First level has 1216 sf with 6 foot, 3 inch ceilings. Second level has severe pitch in the roof line and none of it complies with ansi. I inspected this on 8/15/25. I communicated this to the AMC who reached out to the lender. Yesterday 9/7/25 I finally hear back from the AMC saying just do your best.
All of the comps have 7 foot plus ceilings. I have nothing to compare this to and know most buyers would walk right out the front door when they see how low the ceilings are. I am reaching out to some rural brokers in the area to get their thoughts on this but I am at a loss what to do or how to explain and justify any adjustments. Please only answer this if you can provide some insight. I don't want this to become an argument among posters. I need help.

 

[J Grant]

I appraised a house like this last year - 80% of the house had 6-foot ceilings and per ANSI I had to minus it from the living area of the main dwelling - I then entered it on another line as a line item adjustment and explained. Luckily, I had a couple of funky low ceiling comps to use along with normal ceiling comps.

How expensive would it be to raise the ceilings in your subject ? I ask because that speaks to marketability - in the home I appraised, it had a false drop ceiling, one could remove it, expose the bare attic wood, and immediately have over 7-foot ceilings - I wrote that as a comment.

Depends on if there are other positive features present - though in some cases, perhaps a house like this is a teardown if land value is high and the low ceilings make the house one buyers would remove - only you can answer that wrt market research.

 

[CGinMN]

Has the subject previously sold? You can pair it up to other sales from that time period to determine the discount.

The only thing you can do is do your best. If I didn’t have a prior transaction of the subject to work with, I would look at homes built prior to 1890, then start flipping through photos. Even if outside the immediate market area, or not directly comparable. You can probably find a basement or finished attic with low ceiling height, then develop some type of adjustment for functional obsolescence, and apply it to the whole living area, but that is less ideal.

This is where appraiser experience plays a bigger role. Just find any type of data you can, then reconcile using your judgement.

 

[Mark K]

Can you find the last sale of the subject and see how it compared with similar size properties at that time? If it sold at a discount (likely) I'd use the same discount today on the Functional Utility section of the grid. Probably the most supportable adjustment you'll come up with.

 

[J Grant]

The house I appraised was a borderline judgment call on HBU to tear it down and HBU land as vacant. It squeaked into res use, existing only because I found a couple of comps with low ceilings that were not torn down. But some peple were removig old funky homes and bulding new on the land -

 

[Dublin ohio]

Besides the obvious ansi dilema, I am at a loss how to value this home. It was built in 1880 and is located along the NY/Vermont border. Tax records show 1648 sf. First level has 1216 sf with 6 foot, 3 inch ceilings. Second level has severe pitch in the roof line and none of it complies with ansi. I inspected this on 8/15/25. I communicated this to the AMC who reached out to the lender. Yesterday 9/7/25 I finally hear back from the AMC saying just do your best.
All of the comps have 7 foot plus ceilings. I have nothing to compare this to and know most buyers would walk right out the front door when they see how low the ceilings are. I am reaching out to some rural brokers in the area to get their thoughts on this but I am at a loss what to do or how to explain and justify any adjustments. Please only answer this if you can provide some insight. I don't want this to become an argument among posters. I need help.

Something that might make the lender change their mind is if you tell them you are going to have to check the "no" box under does the property conform to the neighborhood

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Adjust by the cubic foot...

 

[Vermonter]

Besides the obvious ansi dilema, I am at a loss how to value this home. It was built in 1880 and is located along the NY/Vermont border. Tax records show 1648 sf. First level has 1216 sf with 6 foot, 3 inch ceilings. Second level has severe pitch in the roof line and none of it complies with ansi. I inspected this on 8/15/25. I communicated this to the AMC who reached out to the lender. Yesterday 9/7/25 I finally hear back from the AMC saying just do your best.
All of the comps have 7 foot plus ceilings. I have nothing to compare this to and know most buyers would walk right out the front door when they see how low the ceilings are. I am reaching out to some rural brokers in the area to get their thoughts on this but I am at a loss what to do or how to explain and justify any adjustments. Please only answer this if you can provide some insight. I don't want this to become an argument among posters. I need help.

How do you know the comps have 7'+ ceilings? I'm not far from you and most ceilings in original condition 1880s houses are all low. Even if you had a model match comp, I doubt there would be a market reaction.

 

[J Grant]

Something that might make the lender change their mind is if you tell them you are going to have to check the "no" box under does the property conform to the neighborhood

Don't tell he landed. Just check it. Loans are made on non-conforming property.

 

[Elliott]

AI: Ceilings in the 1800's in New England:

Ceiling Height by Home Type
• Most farmhouses and worker homes featured ceilings from about 6′ to 7′ tall, designed for practical reasons like conserving heat and reducing building material costs.
• Formal rooms and parlors in affluent or Colonial-style properties sometimes had ceilings up to 9′ or 10′, especially for entertaining spaces intended to impress guests.
• Architectural evolution in the Victorian period (late 1800s) brought slightly taller ceilings in some city homes, but the majority of rural and small-town structures kept to the modest heights established earlier.
Historical Design Motivation
• Low ceilings helped New Englanders stay warm and conserve energy during harsh winters, as smaller volumes were easier to heat by central fireplaces.
• The height was not due to people being shorter—average adult heights in the 1800s were similar to today, but economic and practical considerations dictated construction choices.
• Wealthier New England families favored taller ceilings to convey status and accommodate larger windows and more elaborate molding.

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