Government Shutdown Delaying Home Closings In Green Country

The government shutdown is having an impact on the real estate market in Green Country. Those using a rural development loan or Native American loan are unable to close during the shutdown.

“Right now everything is just kinda in limbo. This isn’t the first time this has happened so it’s not something we have never seen, it’s just always kinda a bummer,” Phillip Morrow with AMC Mortgage, in Tulsa, said Thursday afternoon.

“I’m a big advocate for obviously using local lenders because in these events we’re here - so we can try to find the work-around or a different avenue maybe a little quicker than maybe some of your online lenders.”

Morrow says the government shutdown, now in its 13th day, is having a ripple effect on sellers, buyers, agents, lenders and title companies. He’s says out of the group, the most affected by far are the buyers.

“We are getting a lot of inquiries, a lot of our agents are reaching out saying, 'Hey, how can this affect our potential buyers or our sellers when they’re listing?'" Morrow added.

New On 6 met with a couple who just bought their second home in Collinsville. They were supposed to close on their home by the end of December and needed to be out of their previous home by December 31st so those who bought their home could move in.

“I had no clue that this was something that could happen,” Harmony Fuller said, with a puzzled look on her face.

Harmony and her husband were able to work out a deal with the seller of their new home to still move in without closing and rent the home until the government shutdown ends.

“We’ve been privileged enough - unlike a lot of families - to go ahead and move into our home, to go ahead and negotiate a rental agreement until we can get that closing date.”

According to Morrow, flood insurance is no longer affected by the shutdown, and FHA and VA loans are still both operational without issues. The only loans that are impacted by the government shutdown in northeastern Oklahoma are the rural development and Native American loans.

“They can still go under contract on a property; they can still move forward on the property; they just need to know and be aware if they’re going mainly down one of these two avenues - rural development or Native American loan - that there’s a potential they won’t make that closing date,” Morrow added.