Trailer / Intro
“Buying your first home can feel like climbing Mount Everest. But if you’ve got the right guide and take it one step at a time, you’ll make it to the summit.” - Nelson Barss
Hey friends, Nelson here. I’m so excited to finally launch this podcast. If you’re out there dreaming of owning a home but not sure where to start—or maybe you’ve tried and hit some walls—this podcast is for you.
Why I’m Doing This
Over the last few years, I’ve watched too many people walk into my office full of hope… only to leave discouraged once they see how hard the numbers can be. That moment hurts every time. I wanted a way to keep walking with those clients—to help them get ready, stay motivated, and see that it really is possible. That’s how The Utah Home Buyers Quest was born.
I think of homeownership like climbing a mountain. It’s tough, but if you’ve got the right guide and you take it step by step, you’ll get there. My job is to be that guide—to show you the path, to cheer you on, and to make sure you’ve got the right gear before you start the climb.
A Little About Me
I’ve been a loan officer and a branch manager. I’ve seen the good and the bad of the mortgage world. What pushed me to become a broker was one client who found a better deal after I’d worked hard to get them ready. At first, I was frustrated—but then I realized the truth: my old company didn’t have the right programs for them. That wasn’t fair to them, or to me. Now I work independently, matching each client with the lender that believes in them.
What You’ll Hear On the Show
The first few episodes are the foundation—what I call “basecamp.” We’ll talk about why owning matters, what it really takes to qualify, and what the full journey looks like from credit pull to closing day.
From there, we’ll dive into real questions I hear every week:
• What if I don’t have a down payment?
• How do I compete with other buyers?
• How can I get creative with financing?
And yes, we’ll bring on agents, credit experts, and other voices who can help you every step of the way.
You’re Not Alone.
If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, feeling like you’ll never get there—please don’t count yourself out. You’re not alone. Join our Facebook group, connect with other buyers, and start this journey with us.
I’ll be here each week, walking right beside you. Together, we’ll make it to the summit—and when you’re holding the keys to your first home, it’ll all be worth it.
Full Transcript
Utah Home Buyers Quest Podcast
Episode 1: Is Buying a Home in Utah Still Possible in 2025?
Host: Nelson Barss
Well, hello my friends and welcome to the very first episode of the Utah Home Buyers Quest Podcast. I'm really excited you're here and I'm really excited to get this process started. My name is Nelson Barss. I am a mortgage broker based here in Layton, Utah, and this podcast is for home buyers in exile—anybody who's just on the sidelines hoping to get a home but needing to prepare, needing to learn how, needing time. This is to help you get motivated, help you stay motivated, and to understand how to succeed as a home buyer.
I'll tell you a little bit about me. This episode is just a quick intro, and I want you to understand who I am and what the plans are for this podcast. I'm not a big fan of telling people what I'm going to do; I like to just do it. But for this, I think it's important. If you've come here and found this first episode, I want you to know what we're going to be about. As a mortgage broker, I've been in the business for about twenty-three years, full-time originating loans and helping people buy houses. I work as the principal lending manager, the primary broker for my company, Utah Independent Mortgage. In the past I've worked for many large mortgage banks. I've been a branch manager, a hiring director, a training manager for originators and processors. I've been involved in thousands of closings, helping people buy homes over the last twenty-three years. All of those things have taught me that my favorite thing is just to sit with my clients, roll up my sleeves, and get to work to help them qualify and find the best financing they can for their home.
I'll tell you a little bit about what a mortgage broker is as opposed to a mortgage loan officer at a bank. I used to work for the banks, and when you work for a specific bank, your job is to sell their products, to find people who want their products, and to sell the rates that they're publishing. As an independent mortgage broker now, I don't work for any specific bank. I work for my clients. I get paid by the banks when I close. They buy the loan, and so I get a commission. My job, however, is to sit down with my clients, understand their needs, and then to pair them up with whichever bank is best for them. We have twenty or thirty banks at any given time that we're approved with to process and close in their name. Honestly, there are different lenders that love different people best.
I had a client once, kind of what led to this for me to leave the banks. I had a client who I worked with them pretty hard. We were meeting together to work on their credit, and we got them up to a point where they could qualify for an FHA loan. I quoted them a rate, I pre-approved them, and they went out shopping for a home. At the end, however, once they found their home, they decided to compare the rate I was offering to other lenders, and they found a much better rate from a mortgage broker. I was very frustrated. After the fact, I learned that the company I was working for just didn't have an appetite for those borrowers that had the low credit score FHA loans. In fact, they decided somewhere up the chain to publish a higher rate than the market for that program—probably to deter people from closing, or if they were going to close, they would be profitable loans that would offset the risk. I felt like that was a betrayal of me and of my clients. Now as a broker, I can find those lenders who do have an appetite for whatever it is that my clients need, and so I'm able to offer the lender that loves you best for each situation.
I consider myself a scrappy loan originator. What that means is I'm going to help you with your credit problems. I'm going to help you with creative financing. I'm going to help you find down payment assistance. My coaches over the years have discouraged that. They've said, “Look, just spend your time finding qualified people. Don't spend your time helping people who don't qualify for what you have to offer.” I just can't do it. I feel like those people are the ones who have the most to gain from homeownership. I truly believe homeownership has the power to change financial lives, and I want to help everyone, especially the ones who need some work to get there and to experience that in their lives.
I am not a real estate agent, so I'm not licensed to help you find a home and make offers on it. We will be interviewing quite a few licensed real estate agents on this podcast to help get their best tips and advice. I'm married, I live in Syracuse up here in Davis County, I have four children, and I've decided to make this a Utah-specific podcast. If I try to be too broad, if I try to make this appeal to a national audience, I feel like I'm going to miss the opportunity to bring you specific tips and programs and opportunities for my Utah clients. I only lend in Utah and Idaho. I don't try to lend nationwide, so this is just focused on local clients who I can help.
Why am I doing this podcast? I will tell you that. it's been frustrating over the last couple of years to meet with clients who come to my office excited to buy a home, and when I show them what the monthly payment is going to look like or what it's going to take to qualify, I can see their faces fall. I can see them get very discouraged, and I want to be able to do more for those clients—to walk with them all the way on the long journey of preparation through pre-approval and closing. Buying your first home can feel like climbing Mount Everest. That's the theme of this podcast. It is a quest. We are going to climb Mount Everest together. I want to be your guide and to basically help you become as prepared as possible and walk all the way up that mountain with you to the summit where you'll be closing on your home and moving in to a new home.
I hope that you'll find value in this podcast, that we can someday speak one to one, that I can have an opportunity to earn your business and be your broker. My own kids are coming to home-buying age. I have a nineteen-year-old and a twenty-two-year-old, so I can see the uphill battle that they are facing, and I want them to own a home. I hope that they will start by listening to this podcast just like you have and then continue until they are successful in that goal.
I'll tell you a little bit about what we're going to do on this podcast. We're going to start with three base camp episodes. Think of it as a three-hour home buying seminar. The first episode will cover why homeownership is essential. I've seen some people, as I've been researching that episode online, who are saying it's just better to rent. I couldn't disagree more, and I'll teach you why. The second episode will be all about qualifying for a mortgage. There are so many myths out there and lies about what it takes to qualify. Too many people count themselves out, so we're going to go through the guidelines—income, credit, down payment, work history, things like that to help you understand what you may need. The third episode will talk about the process—the home buying process from credit pull, pre-approval, making offers, going under contract, home inspections, getting ready to close, and moving in. We'll teach you what that takes. So those are the basecamp episodes, I hope everybody can listen to those to get a fundamental understanding of the quest that we’re on.
The rest of the episodes will share solutions to common problems. What if my debt ratio is too high? What if I don't have a down payment? How do I shop for a mortgage? How do I choose a real estate agent? Who pays for the real estate agent? How do I qualify if I'm self-employed? How do I win if I'm in a competitive bidding situation with other buyers? We're also going to interview a lot of real estate agents and home inspectors, insurance people, credit repair specialists—anyone who I feel can help you prepare to be successful as a home buyer. We're going to review the down payment assistance programs throughout the state.
By the end, or even in the middle, you're going to be so well educated after listening for a while that this process is going to seem a lot less intimidating and daunting for you. I believe if you listen, you will succeed as a home buyer. You'll be able to stay motivated, stay engaged, and use this as a regular boost for your dedication to your financial goals. You'll know how to get the best deals, the best purchase price, and the best interest rates and fees. We'll review where rates are moving, look at economists' reports, and occasionally do a weekly update on the market so you can understand where rates are going. We'll talk about creative strategies like getting a mother-in-law apartment or building one with money that we can wrap into your mortgage. There are so many ways to help you thrive as a home buyer and succeed.
In every episode, my goal is to encourage you. I'll include some case studies—families and people who recently bought and how they did it. I want to keep your spirits high. I want to show you the path that we will be walking together.
There's another resource I just want to tell you about. It's a Facebook group called The Home Buyers Quest Discussion Group. If you search for that on Facebook, you can join the group as a listener and interact with other home buyers. I'll be there, I have some real estate agents that will also be there, and we can answer your individual questions as they pop up, which will help the whole group learn. I've really benefited from some groups like that in my life, so I hope you'll come over there and join the discussion.
Again, congratulations for being here. I really do want to emphasize how important homeownership is, and I honestly feel like you are in the right place to get ready. I'm always available to answer your questions anytime. As I said, I hope that some of the listeners of this podcast will become my friends and my clients, and I hope that you will reach out to schedule a consultation with me if you want to go deeper into your own situation. We can do it face-to-face in my Layton office, over Zoom, or by phone. If you find this podcast valuable, I promise that a consultation with me will be even more valuable. There's no fee to consult with me, and there's no obligation.
I hope that gives you a feel for where we're headed. I hope you'll find it worthy of subscribing so you can get the fresh episodes as they're published. They're specifically designed to give you knowledge, real-time market updates, and, most of all, encouragement and motivation. Remember, don't count yourself out. Don't think that you are all alone on this quest. We believe in you, and we are here—my team and I—to guide you and to walk with you all the way to closing.
That’s it for the episode! Please, check us out online. Our website is homebuyersquest.com, and we'll see you in the next episode.