Adjusting for 9'ft or 10'ft ceilings

[Mr Rex]

It can be obvious. Think about a 100 year old house with 8 ft ceilings. If its still standing, must be on a lake etc. in my area. Newer homes, 8 & 9 ft ceilings less obvious unless all the houses in a tract subdivson are 9 versus 8 in another etc. 10 over 8 is usually an upgrade, but in a slow rural area, might not be as important as how far to the grocery store. There are no hard, fast adjustment rules, unless you cover only a very limited market.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Got you Jim; 8ft vs 9 or 10 ft ceilings. Must have read the post too fast.

Only thing I've done fast all day.

I would suspect that there is a market preference in my market but it would be hard to "prove" in this low density with so few sales. I personally like 9 foot ceilings and the effect they have of giving a feeling of spaciousness of a room.

 

[Jungle Boy]

If in the city, it should not be a problem to find similar homes to the subject.
I'd say that having appraised (not anywhere near the # of some of the oldtimers) close to 1200 homes, that I've never run into that problem.
Most homes in areas which have 9ft and over ceilings, will have comps available with 9' and over ceilings. Most homes in older establised neighborhoods... get the picture

But my market could be very different than yours.

Of course there is always the chance than I've had all comps with 9ft ceilings, with the subject only being 8ft, and not having known it. :new_all_coholic::new_all_coholic:

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

I'd only worry if my subject had 5 or 7 foot ceilings. :icon_eyecrazy:

 

[The Warrior Monk]

I'd only worry if my subject had 5 or 7 foot ceilings. :icon_eyecrazy:

I'd worry even more if they were 48 feet!:new_all_coholic:

 

[Mountain Man]

In my area, from 8 to 9 ft... it's a HUGE Difference! I would NOT compare a house with 8 to a house with 9. I don't even build a house now with 8 foot, unless it's a cheapy of the cheapest out in the sticks. Then it would have to be a contract build job at that! Most houses in my area start in the upper 200's. Okay, so builders lie on their subdivision signs! It's like having that ONE car on the lot for $12,285... the rest start at $18,999. :dry: Most are 300K+, and have 9 foot with vaulted ceilings of 16. But then you get to the 400+ range and can't really support an adjustment from 9 to 10. That's becaues ALL of these houses will have 10 foot... apples to apples, no adjustment.

 

[Jungle Boy]

apples to apples, no adjustment.[/quote]



That's what I was trying to say :icon_idea:

 

[Mike Boyd]

I'm with Lee on this. I don't EVER recall adjusting for ceiling height. However, if a specific house has a certain ambience and HAPPENS to have higher than 8 foot ceilings, I might make an APPEAL adjustment. Higher ceilings make for a higher cost to heat....but maybe a lower cost to cool.

 

[JSmith43]

Lots of times 9'+ ceilings go hand in hand with over sized windows or extra windows and the buyer's wow! meter goes off when they come in the door

Basically, the extra ceiling height makes possible extra fenestration!

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

I would not call older homes with 8' ceilings comparable to newer homes with 9' or 10' ceilings. A good place for an adjustment would be under "quality of construction". The simple answer is to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

Out here IN MY MARKET we are seeing more and more 12 and 16' ceilings. Appraiser...know thy market!

PS..thanks for quoting me!