I am a new signing agent. I am feeling a little discouraged. Can anyone suggest signing agencies that are willing to utilize new agents and that pay above lowball fees? Do I have no choice but to take these offers until I get more experience?
Did you take any loan signing course that provided you with a list of companies to contact? For example, I took two courses and they both directed me to companies to sign up with, talked about marketing, and told us about how important it is to put ourselves out there.
That said, you do not have to do anything, especially accept lowball fees. How are you getting your work? What fees are being offered? What fees are you accepting?
Are you a member of Notary Rotary forums? They have a big listing of companies there that are rated. Some people contact companies with 3 stars and above, I chose to contact companies with 4 starts or more (I don’t think I saw any 4 star companies), but I have accepted work from 3 star companies and been paid and liked them fine.
You need to do your research. contact the companies per their protocol, and ask them. If you have any prior experience in the real estate or legal industry, you can usually get your foot in the door quicker. However, you might hear form some companies that they want one or two years of experience. I tried to talk a few into foregoing their experience requirement just for me, but they would not budge. 
Those are the companies you contact when you have more experience.
Good luck!
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I’m NNA certified and I have joined Notary Rotary also. It seems as if most of the highly rated companies want more seasoned agents. I’ve had my notary public commission for a little while now, I’m just new to loan signing. I’ve completed multiple real estate training courses and plan to be licensed soon. Maybe things are just slow in my area, but only 1-2 offers are sent by text to me per day for same day signings. I haven’t accepted any of the offers yet they are all reverse mortgages with edocs ranging from $75 to $100 for a night time signing in a risky city about 45 min away with rural roads. I’ve gone through the list on signing central, I just noticed the required experience and skipped certain companies. Thanks.
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I have gotten in with high rated companies and I am not a seasoned agent. In fact, I became a SA in about August of this year. I have completed almost 30 closings. I do have a 13 year history as a paralegal in construction defect, so companies could have taken that into consideration. You just have to put yourself out there.
You always want to stay safe too. so don’t accept signings in an area you are uncomfortable with.
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What I should have written was higher paying companies that pay in a timely manner. Ideally I would like to work directly with title companies. I guess it also depends on what area you work in and how competitive things are there. I am happy you were able to get in right away with great companies. I have filled out countless applications and have never been offered more than $100 for a job. With all the expenses I put into being a SA, I don’t want to spend the next year making $75 for 45 min one way signing. Especially since I’m in CA and our fuel taxes were increased this month. If things don’t get any better I may just stick to general notarial work.
$75 for almost 4 hours of roundtrip driving is lowball, so be sure to counter those offers. I would have asked for at least $150 to $200 for that.
If you do a signing in your area then $75 might be okay. For example, I was hired to have someone fill out and sign 7 pages of paperwork for a loan, to collect certain documents, all faxback, for $75. The signer was literally down the street from me (.4 miles), there was little work involved, so I took it.
Always ask how many pages and if there are fax backs, because you can add a little more time for these things. If it’s at night when you’re going to be out late, you can add a little for that.
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Thanks :-), I’m getting them through apps right now and they don’t give much info only the option to decline or accept. :-/ I can’t wait until I actually get calls instead of texts so that I have more info upfront.
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if you take low ball offers you will be stuck with them forever. This is not a business where you can “make it up in volume”.
You have to know how you can be profitable so that the IRS does not consider your efforts to be a hobby! Everyone is slow right now. Set your minimum fee and stick with it.
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Where are you located?
Lowball offers= hobby and it is not a career. Which agencies are you registered. NNA has a list of companies that you can reach out and they are very fair with the fees.
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