Low balling fees

I keep seeing comments regarding low balling. As a new mobile notary agent, give me the typical fees I should be asking for. Generally, if I ask for over $100 the response is “I’m only authorized up to $100, I’ll have to check with our client to see if they’ll go higher,” and then don’t hear back. So what is one to do to build business that will pay our worth? And what are the best companies to work with that have already established our worth? Thanks!

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There is a post in the forum of companies that are good to work for (they pay a fair amount, pay on time, etc), check that one out and solicit business from those companies.

“Typical” fees are different for different areas of the country, however, I think that the general consensus is that $100 is a fair fee for a purchase / refinance loan signing. Unfortunately, a lot of notaries have and will accept the lower fees and so companies who offer a lower rate generally will not go higher, especially for a new notary, unless they are crunch and need someone quickly and you are the only person who is willing to do it. If you are a new notary I think that $100 is a fair fee for a purchase or a refinance. Once you get to the point where the companies know your name and request you specifically to do their signings you can start asking for more and justify it with your work history with them.

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You have to kiss a lot of frogs (but don’t–just say no to lowball fees) before you find a prince (company that pays what you’re worth). $100 is low-fair for very close, but more is better, Just don’t be stupid and travel for that! Even the lowballers pay well for travel.

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This happens often these days. I believe they are “shopping” to find the lowest bidder which is why you don’t hear back. Someone out there is accepting low ball fees which hurts all of us. Having said that … price fixing is illegal as far as I know. You have to figure out what you need to keep yourself in business in your specific area and stick to that.

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Yes your correct in understanding the price fixing is illegal. But I would point out that the Real Estate industry has had their standard fee set at about 6% for a very long time, and yes that fee is negotiable but almost every Real Estate Broker in the country and almost Every Real Estate Agent charges based on 6% so that has become the industry norm nation wide. I feel that Notary’s can achieve the same thing with our fees for NSA work if we would band together and demand a standard fee. The signing companies get a certain amount to FIND a Notary to do the signing, what they pay us is a portion of that fee and they keep the rest. If the Notary’s who work directly for the title and Escrow companies tell us that the stand fee is between $175 and $200 for a signing then if the SS gives a notary $90 they get the rest. The SS deserves a fee for their service, but they don’t deserve the bulk of the fee that is eventually charged to the Person who takes out the loan for the property…Its just common sense. The SS need the notary more than the Notary needs the Signing Services…Demand a fair fee which allows for the SS to make a living too and than stick to your guns. Now that is my 2 cents worth, end of rant…

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As long as there are agent out there that accept lower fees this will keep happening. However, I have companies that I work for now after over 4 years that pay what I ask for, within reason of course. Just keep at it but you will probably have to work for less for a while in this environment. It is also not as busy as it was when I started so that hasn’t helped.

I became a Notary Public in 2005 & became a Notary Signing Agent in 2006. As a new Notary Signing Agent back then I accepted a lot of the low paying signings with the companies who contacted me because I really wanted to gain experience & familiarize myself with the loan packages or other certain documents. As I got more experienced & became established with certain companies who were contacting me on regular basis I decided it was time to start asking for a higher fee. They agreed to match my fee since I was always so efficient & got the job done in a timely manner. So with that being said please keep in mind in a business everyone will always need to crawl before they walk & good luck!!

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Klewis ~
can you give suggestions on Loan Mod’s and what to charge for to C2C?

Jennifer, are you asking what you should charge for loan modifications? Honestly I have never done a loan modification, however I generally don’t leave my house for less than $100. IF things are super slow and the package is small (less than 40 pages) and the signing is close by (less than a 15 minute drive) and I KNOW the company pays quickly (30 days or less) I MIGHT do a seller or other small package signing for $85. But that doesn’t happen often.

I don’t work a lot with signing companies, I tend to work directly with title companies and I always tell them my MINIMUM fee is $150 and may go up from there depending on the individual circumstances of the signing.

If I get a request from a signing company I almost always counter the fee that is offered with a higher one because I know that what they are offering me is only a part of the money that they are getting paid.

I hope that answered your question! :slight_smile:

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Got offered a $30 C2C LM but the time was TBD, which was sort of odd in addition to the fee being offered.

I received my lowest offer ever yesterday from NotaryGo, $10 total for a resigning. Really?

Interesting perspective

I block their numbers. NotaryGo can go far, far away from this Notary!

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