Kudos to Morris & Raper InTown for expanding, adding 24 new agents in the past nine months, and almost doubling its square footage with a new office in Atlanta’s Mayfair Royal building, across from the W Hotel on 14^th Street.

Agent Greg Williamson has listed a charming 1922 Druid Hills Tudor at 1320 Harvard Road, priced at $849,900.

I’m a fan of archways, curved staircases and built-ins that make a home stand out from the same-old, and there are plenty of those and other details in this renovation. Of course, they didn’t scrimp on bringing it up to date in areas like the kitchen, either, which has stainless steel appliances but also kept the original butler’s pantry.

The home also has a screened-in porch and a two-car garage with a guest house, and I love the sunny yellow walls in the living areas and dining room. Just what I need to perk up my day.

That’s not the only Atlanta where buyers are benefiting from negotiations. ZipRealty’s third quarter “Home Hunter Report” also notes that Buckhead is one of the top 10 spots in the country where sellers are accepting on average 70 to 80 cents on the dollar. They join cities in Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Homes in Atlanta ZIP codes 30083 and 30326 are selling on average for 30 percent below asking price, ZipRealty found in its compilation of Multiple Listing Service sales data in 33 U.S. metropolitan areas.

On the bright side, the report also revealed that Atlanta is one of the most popular cities for homebuyers. That’s based on home searches at ZipRealty.

So builders and developers have found that if they can work with buyers on adding display space, rooms and storage, it could lead to sales.

Interior designer Donna Lamb and The Home Depot’s Mike Lamb did just that with their new townhome at Avignon at Vinings, building a tall storage closet from wall space under their staircase.

Mike says the area off their media room was dead space, but they were able to transform that into much-needed storage for Christmas decorations, fitness equipment and other items they kept in the basement of their previous home.

“She noticed there was an opportunity here to really add something to the home that gives the homeowner the benefit of getting additional storage,” Mike says. “You can never have too much storage space.”

The couple says the developer, Kairos Development Corp., worked with them to maximize every square inch of the terrace level by adding the closet, at no extra cost. The closet’s ceiling stretches to 12 feet, and it’s about 5 feet wide and 8 feet deep.

“It really saved the day,” he says. “Short of having that, we probably would have had to rent some storage space.”

Barrington Hall isn't on the market but is part of the Roswell Ghost Tour. Photo by Shane Garner (www.shanegarner.com)

A two-story home in my neighborhood has been sitting under construction with little work done on it for months. My husband and I started calling it the haunted house, and it turns out other neighbors do too, with one of them giving directions the other day by saying, “I live next to the haunted house.”

That haunted perception of homes in many Atlanta communities could scare away buyers, making it more difficult to sell homes in this tough market. It’s even more the case this Halloween as unfinished properties are sitting on the market for longer periods of time.

“If you’ve got a house that’s spooky or haunted, or God forbid, you’ve got somebody squatting in it, you have to improve the condition,” says Carolyn Garrett with Harry Norman, Realtors.

That means convincing sellers, even if they’ve already moved to another home or another state, to spend a little to maintain the vacant house, or begging the bank in the case of a foreclosure to turn on the utilities or pay for the yard to be mowed. If not, it could ultimately impact the sale price.

“If they see something that’s in horrible condition, then they are going to base their offer on the condition of the property,” she says.

Now if the house was the site of  a traumatic event or a crime or if groups have declared it haunted, then there’s a psychological side to selling it. So tell the buyer upfront if there’s been a death or a crime or even if it’s been the site for drugs or prostitution, Garrett says.

“The seller thinks they’ll be able to get away with it; they never will,” she says. “A neighbor is going to show up with a casserole (once the new owners move in) and say, ‘Oh, you didn’t know that someone got murdered in the house?’ ”

Have you tried to sell a house with a haunted perception or haunted history? I’m hoping to get the scoop from an agent who says some teenagers who created a haunted house in a home he had listed – check back for that story.

Photo provided by National Association of Home Builders

Real estate agents locally tell me that these new buyers are a big group they’ve been selling to in neighborhoods ranging from Kirkwood and Virginia-Highland to suburban spots such as Duluth and Roswell.

Reuters is reporting on how major industry groups such as the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Home Builders are pushing for the tax credit to be extended and expanded.

Advocates include Georgia Congressman Johnny Isakson, a former real estate broker who told a Senate committee last week that he believes the tax credit has made a difference in the housing market recovery. His proposal could keep the credit at $8,000, but make it available to everyone and extend it until June 30, 2010. Income limits would also be raised to $150,000 for an individual or $300,000 for a couple.

What do you think? Should the tax credit be extended? Should the first-time buyer requirement be lifted to include all buyers?