GLASGOW, Ky. (WBKO) -- It is day 24 of the partial government shutdown, and in addition to the federal workers being impacted by the shutdown, potential home buyers might be as well.
"It's a challenge right now it really is," said Shane Walton, a realtor in Glasgow.
If you go to the USDA website, you'll see a message that reads: "This website will not be updated during a lapse in federal funding." This is a result of the current partial government shutdown.
"As of right now, nothing is moving related to the USDA funding side of that for us," said Terry Bunnell, President/CEO of The Peoples Bank in Glasgow.
"The USDA provides a lot of funding for the rural areas and especially Kentucky being a rural area we're impacted by this shutdown because they're not being able to now originate mortgages," he added.
According to Zillow, nearly 40,000 mortgages could be caught up in the shutdown so far.
"The biggest problem we have now is starting new USDA loans, VA loans, any government back loan product," said Walton.
The shutdown is obviously impacting those trying to close on a property
"Kentucky families depend on USDA to be that funding vehicle for their mortgage loan, to help out with other lending needs that they have," said Bunnell.
However, it's also impacting those in positions that deal with these homebuyers.
"As a lender that works with USDA we're getting into backlog and hopefully all this will come through for us but right now it is causing a problem for us," explained Bunnell.
Additionally, realtors are also going through some hurdles during this 24-day and counting shutdown.
"Another issue that some folks might not realize is if you have a federal tax lean, you cannot access that right now," said Walton.
Tax leans disclose if you owe the government money -- something realtors need to know because it needs to be paid off before property can be closed on.
"I had an issue last week with two contracts on a property," said Walton. "They were both government loans and we have to make the seller and buyer aware since the governments shutdown this could be a lengthy process and we might have to end up writing extensions for closing dates."
If you're facing problems, you could switch loans, but those guidelines are very different, and can even have a different interest rate than you wanted.
"[Government loans are] wonderful products as long as the government's up and running. So, right now it is a big challenge," said Walton.
https://www.wbko.com/content/news/Homebuyers-bankers-realtors-impacted-by-partial-government-shutdown-504341181.html?jwsource=cl
