Winter Baserva is the team leader for Seasons Realty Group in Roswell.

Every week, we ask an Atlanta real estate professional for their thoughts on the top trends in Atlanta real estate.

This week, we talked with Winter Baserva, the team leader of Seasons Realty Group in Solid Source Realty in Roswell. A 10-year veteran of Atlanta real estate, Winter is the only agent in Atlanta to be featured multiple times on House Hunters, and has been a market segment specialist for CNN and guest speaker on Business RadioX. Seasons Realty Group sells approximately 100 homes per year, and has been the No. 1 team at Solid Source Realty since 2012.

Atlanta Agent (AA): With Atlanta’s housing market in high gear, what kinds of things are you paying attention to in your local marketplace?

Winter Baserva (WB): What’s happening is, everyone is trying to time the market, and the truth is that nobody rings a bell at the bottom or the top.

So in my business today, I try to stay away from following the trends, and instead focus on what’s best for my client. I find that when you try to chase it, you’re just running around in circles the whole time. I see it all the time with sellers who tell me, “I’m just going to wait another year until the market picks up and gets better.” We don’t know what could happen tomorrow, so I try to stay away from living in the future, and to focus instead on what they need right now.

AA: Do you think any big obstacles remain for consumers, when it comes to buying a home?

WB: There are some new appraisal guidelines that are going to take effect this year, and I do think they are going to change the way buyers are able to get loans. The new guidelines, which are from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will require additional steps in the appraisal process. Furthermore, all the market reports show a guaranteed increase in mortgage rates this year, so you’re still going to need strong credit, good reserves and patience in today’s market.

You have to make sure your client understands on the front end what’s ahead, so that there are not any surprises. To do that, I’m pretty black and white with my clients. I may not always tell them what the want to hear, but I will tell them what they need to hear. You have to be authentic with people.

AA: Finally, how do you make your marketing stand out, amongst so many other real estate professionals?

WB: First and foremost, I’m the agent who does not work for money. It’s a by-product of what I do, but I work by doing the right thing for my clients; when you put them first, the rest follows, and most of my business, at this point, is referral based.

My background is in marketing and public relations – I did it for 12 years in corporate America before becoming a real estate agent . What I do is heavily different than what other agents do, and that comes from my background and training in corporate America.