At this point in the business, I don’t care to accept Refis, VAs, or HELOCs because it’s too many pages to print, and the fee isn’t worth my time. I’m in GA, and I rarely see any Refis, etc. I get seller packages more than anything right now from the agencies, and they pay at least $100. I’d rather take that with pgs ranging from 15-25 vs a Refi pgs ranging from 120-175 for $120!! No joke, the last time I executed a VA, it was with an elder couple. An hour job turned into a three hour job bc the wife wanted to read every sentence of each doc! She needed an explanation on the docs so we had to call the lender so many times throughout the process. It took so long, the husband actually fell asleep at the table!!! I’m not lieing yall!! I was so shocked that I could not believe I was encountering that situation! Wife tried waking him up several times before he sat up again. What broke the straw on the camel’s back, after all that time, they decided not to move forward and I only got trip and print fee!!! I had smoke coming out my ears!! Since then, I banded taking on those type of closings.
However, most of my cash flow now comes from general notary work (GNW). The fees the agencies are offering now are comical!! I am flabbergasted at how much they are offering the NSAs now! I started doing this work in 2019, and the fees they provided in the past are more than what they’re offering now! So, I focus on getting direct business rather than relying on agencies. I have a few agencies that consider me their “preferred notary,” so I’m satisfied with that alone.
@kellis3873 That is an inappropriate Fee adjustment without your consent to the Contractual Agreement you made with that business entity.
If you provided the Professional Services as requested within the Signing Order {SO], your remuneration would be the FULL Fee as identified on the SO.
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This is one of the items that is IMPORTANT to confirm during the initial phase of accepting a SO:
The Full Fee is due and payable for services rendered regardless of/not contingent upon borrower(s) signing, the loan funding status, or the purchase/sale finalization status.
I just had a text offer for a “high net worth” client with a personal wealth closing description. High net worth clients require for male notories a pressed shirt and tie. These can take up to 2 hours or more at the signing table to complete. The offered fee was $60. I countered with more than double that fee and indicated these types of clients demand more so the fee should reflect that. They then changed the information to just a Heloc. This time I just responded not available. Some of these services are playing games that I refuse to be a part of. This one was at least a 50 mile drive round trip and would have been impossible to make the profit I need to make for my business. In cases like this, no saves me money and frustration.
Where do you find a binder clip that will hold 271 pages? I’m just curious. The largest packages I’ve ever done were in the 225-230 page range, and the large binder clips that you get at Staples or Office Depot barely hold them.
@steves11 Hmmm . . . the large ACCO binder clips will hold approximately 240 pages of 20# paper.
I discovered over time that the larger sizes were rarely used & it took a long time to clear out the ones purchased.
As such, I now only purchase two sizes: Medium & Mini
For the application you referenced, Extra-Large packages, I utilize two or three binder clips (medium-sized) that hold about 120 pages of 20# paper per clip.
NOTE: When clipping them onto the pages, grab 20 or so pages that are held in the previous binder clip. This technique will hold the complete package together.
Yes, I’m well aware of that. Honestly, though, if they did that to me, I would probably ask for more money. If they refused, I’d give the signing back.
@steves11Concur percent with your definitive Business Owner perspective. Thank You!
That’s precisely what I did at that time last year with that Extra-Large Signing Order [SO] - negotiated a Fee appropriate for the Time Requirements for the Professional Services required.
Agree that if there was a refusal to negotiate a reasonable Fee, the SO would have been turned back to them.
Hear! Hear! 
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