As the title to my post denotes, I have seen a sharp decrease in the number of offers as well as a decrease in fees being offered. At first, I thought that it might be that I have somehow been blacklisted, but then I took a look at my ratings on the apps which I use and I am highly rated, plus I have a few signing companies which reach out directly to me for signings in my area, so I don’t think that it’s that.
Then, I thought maybe the issue is that I am not on enough apps. So, I added myself to a few more apps, but that barely moved the needle on the number of offers coming in the door. Finally, I started looking at the fees being offered for the few jobs which are coming through; they have drastically dropped from where they were in the summer. In the late spring and all throughout summer fees were averaging from $95 to $200 for most types of signings. But, as soon as fall started, fees began sharply declining. First time homebuyer, refinance, and other high page count signings were dropping from $100-$200 to $60-$85 on average. Besides a few gems (i.e. seller’s packages & HELOCs with low page counts for $95-$150), the field here in my state has been increasingly more barren as the end of the calendar year approaches. With fewer opportunities out there, it makes sense that signing companies would be driving down fees, given the high demand for loan signing work but low inventory of available work.
Given that this is my first year as a Notary Signing Agent, I am curious to know whether this is in line with the normal yearly cycle or whether inflation/high interest rates are pushing the housing market down, even in spite of the recent interest rate easing by the Feds. To the more experienced NSAs out there, what are your thoughts/experiences? Are you seeing a decline in volume? How about in fees? Is this in line with the normal cycle or does it feel abnormally low?
If you were being offered $95-$200 earlier this year, that was the outlier as the fees you’ve been seeing recently are what most of us have seen (and the smart ones don’t accept).
It is somewhat cyclical as to seller or buyer packages and refi’s were way down, but are starting to trickle with the recent rate drop. All I can think of is…has your competition increased? Seems most newbs take the loser fees.
It’s picking up a lot. Someone takes incredibly low fees because many of my counter offers do not result in assignments. But I am standing firm on what I will and will not accept. And anything over 100 pages I request a print fee and usually get it.
Interesting re: the fees. I am in a major metropolitan area on the east coast, so maybe that’s a driver for the more favorable fees this summer? Re: competition, unless these newbs are being contacted directly by title companies and lenders, it would appear that there is simply less work to go around right now, as I mainly use apps to find work. My apps went from bombarding me with 15-20 offers per day (though not all convenient or lucrative) to now only 2-5 per day (many of which require witnesses).
I’ve noticed the same in my area; 9 out of 10 counteroffers do not result in assignments for me either. Out of curiosity, what’s your range for printing fees for higher page count jobs? I’ve asked for $25 once (for over 400 pages, inclusive of the signer’s copy) and was actually paid for it, but not sure if I low-balled my request for the print fee.
It depends. Sometimes I don’t mention a number I say “this was x number of pages, would adding a print fee be an acceptable consideration?”. And sometimes they add up to 20 dollars. If it’s 100-150 pages I ask for a fee but I only ask for $10 because really that covers it. If it’s 150-200 pages I ask for $15. If it’s over 200 pages I ask for $20. And reverse mortgage I jack my fee way up to include printing and say “this fee includes printing” when I send a counteroffer. I don’t do a reverse for less than $150. So if you asked $25 for over 400 total pages - I don’t think that’s excessive. I don’t charge a lot because I will raise my fees again next year and like to have some room.
I’ve been busier than usual for 2 weeks straight, even weekends. I’ve done about 350 assignments in my nearly 4 years of being a loan signing agent. Most of the signing services I used to contract with, I don’t hear from anymore. But I do have one signing service that keeps me busy now. When I first started, I did take the “low ball” fees, but I gained experience and felt it was worth my while. Some may not be in a position to do so, but I have a car payment that is part of my business expense. I think most LSA start out taking what they can get with lower fees, even if they don’t admit it. If the company can work with you and you are prompt on fixing in errors, if applicable, you will go far because they will call you again. My commission expires in February, and I hope interest rates drop again. God Bless and much success to you!~
Just remember that it isn’t just the cost of printing large package, it’s also your TIME spent printing and getting excess pages signed (with people getting bored, annoyed, tired and more error-prone). Think you know this, so it’s mostly meant for the newbs. I’ll get them really thinking or die trying.
I have to agree with Arichter. I have never seen an order come through for 200. I live rural and some orders are a 2 hour drive one way and we still can’t pull those kind of fees.
Today I countered 165 on one and naturally didn’t get assigned. It was an ASAP blasted at rush hour over an hour away . where we live if your gps says 1 hour drive due to the roads , the curves and steep grades and 2 lane only roads 1 hour means 1 and a half hours but of course the people sending it out don’t know that. They want scan backs in 90 minutes, but thats pushing it because in the dark those roads are fatal with suicidal deer and other wildlife .
my point being those numbers must be area specific for your area . I also don’t think its slowed down that much, monday seemed slow as far as orders but the rest of the week made up for it .
Well, I’m starting to get pinged a bit more. Getting onboard with Servicelink really helped. I got onboard with Bancserv but those order come in and go out it a flash… It’s quite ridiculous! Just be careful on those hairpin turns. I just got my first reverse and it is 262 pages…Is this the typical size for a reverse? I took it for $100, but I looked at the closing statement and they showed $575 for notary fees…So I’m doing most of the work and they want to pay me $100 and stick $475 in their pockets? I asked for a fee increase to $175 and they gave it to me!
Yep…you’re learning. Reverses are big, VA loans, too. SL is known to call & tell you your volume will go up if you’ll drop your fee. If you take the worm, they’ll then call your competition with the same spiel and you will be in a race to the bottom.
On SnapDocs, when you go into your profile, you can see your ranking on the left hand side of the page. I am ranked High on that platform. I also get a quarterly report telling me how much I earned and whether or not a signing company left a rating for me. SigningOrder doesn’t seem to have the same function, but direct feedback from several of the signing companies with whom I work tells me that I am doing a good job and am highly ranked by the ones who farm out work through that platform. All in all, it looks like when the volume of work goes down, the offered fees also go down. Orders are starting to increase again, as are fees, so maybe I just need to see a complete year or two in order to better assess the drivers behind price fluctuations and volume of work.
This is great info re: your service area and the drivers for the fee ranges around you. I live in a large metropolitan area on the east coast, so that may be a major reason for why we see higher fees out here - the cost of living is higher. That being said, it appears that the higher fees tend to accompany work orders with urgent turnaround times. Where I live I have the choice between work orders in the city (low miles but high traffic and little parking) or out in the suburbs (high miles, but low traffic and ample parking). Frankly, I prefer the latter as it allows me to avoid heavy traffic and less risk of getting parking tickets. Also, as I mentioned in another reply, I’m starting to see an uptick in orders again, thankfully.
Im a 40 year real estate broker who is mostly retired. I do a lot of valuations for banks. Mostly for refis or helocs. In the last 2 months ? I have seen an uptick in that end, so there should be an increase in notary needs. So hope business picks up.
There was an uptick this month, especially at EOM. At least that was my experience in Northern California and posts from fellow notaries on the Central Coast say the same.
Here’s hoping everyone’s business picks up tremendously and very soon.
I am doing better these days. But even knowing there are notaries out there taking lousy fees I haven’t had to drop fees to do all right. I get up to $350 for excessive mileage orders. With winter approaching business will go up because some notaries do not accept orders during bad weather. I just ask for and get more in the winter.
I will remember to ask for more during bad weather. It snowed hard here last winter in Baltimore, MD. It made traffic very bad. I have received very few pings so far here in December and the fees have been for $20 or $50.
I took a signing for $85 this morning because I am already going to be down the street. But that’s just the lowest I accept. I’m doing 20-30 signings a month. I still want a higher volumn - don’t we all.
