It’s week two of the government shutdown with many employees furloughed and trying to make ends meet while they wait for Congress to sort out the shutdown. Real estate agents are also being affected by the government shutdown. How are real estate agents affected by government shutdown?

Many of the loan operations and processing have to go through government offices in order to be approved. With the IRS closed and suspended, all forms including requests for tax return transcripts are no longer being processed. These are often required by many lenders for loans including FHA and VA, causing delays and extending the length of these delays the longer the shutdown continues for.

Besides tax transcripts being unavailable, Social Security number verifications are being delayed as the Social Security Administration is also closed and suspended. The government needs to confirm this type of information on a loan in order to finalize a deal, so any real estate agent that was in the process of buying or selling a client’s property is going to notice a delay in the number of homes they are able to close on.

Real estate agents tend to work on commission, and without being able to close on a home they are not going to get paid for the duration of the shutdown. Although if the government shutdown lasts a short period of time real estate agents might not experience the lack of pay. Real estate agents affected by the government shutdown will need to find ways to help with the delays of closing on properties.