I guess it depends on where you’re located. Yes, they will pay more if they’re pressed for time, but within limits, not ridiculous amounts. If you’re out in a rural area, there is not going to be a wide choice of notaries to choose from, but if you’re in a large metropolitan area, where there is a glut of notaries, they’re not going to pay you $300 to get a Deed of Trust signed when they can easily find someone else to do it for less.
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I have seen apps that don’t allow counteroffers. It’s take it or leave it. I agree that the Title365 app is clunky and was designed by a masochist.
Timios was the only company who ever refused to accept a counter offer. Everyone else I do business with does. And the Mortgage Connect app could be improved by adding the ability to upload files.
But that isn’t related to how far I’ll drive.
I have driven 100 miles one way to do a signing. The real issue is that we are independent contractors, treated as employees. We are not being paid notary fees; we bid on jobs. I mentally factor in the IRS mileage deduction to an assignment. When you factor in all the expenses, none of us on paper is making a profit. If we were being paid at paralegal fees, we would be making time, mileage, and expenses. The only ones making any money are the signing services. We keep getting additional work added, scan backs create extra time, and travel. Just yesterday I did a signing, and I bet between the dozen emails, phone calls from the signing service, title company, and the client I and creating billing to send in, I spent over an hour extra time. We work by the job. The signing service personnel get paid by the hour. In many cases, they don’t read completion reports, or if one, two, or three people work in the office, they do not talk to each other. Hence, more calls to confirm, where are the docs? My biggest gripe is that you drop off docs in the morning, they don’t show in transit, because they are being picked up at the end of the day. They call, " Why don’t we show docs in transit on the tracking web? Dah! Yeah, a little off topic. Truth is, we don’t get paid what the job is truly worth. Bid what the job is worth to you, I say, let the ones who have no business acronym take them on the cheap. I make the most when the weather is bad. I have my vehicle set up for weather; no, it’s not a gas-guzzling 4x4, but it will go anywhere I drive it safely. Years of experience go a long way, but the fee goes with it. My companies call because I will come through when others don’t. AI and RON will, over time, put us all out of work.Signing service will be like the DoDo bird, Title will have notaries in the office doing RON signings using their own service providers. Time will tell.
1 hour radius that is it for me
Update: I would like to share a recent, real-life experience to illustrate how far I am currently willing to drive for work assignments. Specifically, today’s schedule involved two separate signings. The first assignment was located just 13 miles away from my home base, and the second was a bit further, at 27 miles. What’s important to note is that both of these assignments carried the same compensation: a fee of $275 each. In fact, the company I regularly work with has my established fee schedule on file. I should also mention that I recently made some adjustments to my fee structure to better reflect and appropriately compensate for the increasing costs of fuel, which, as we all know, have been quite volatile lately. From start to finish, I left my residence at 8:00 AM and was happily back home by noon. As we all navigate the landscape of running our own businesses, it’s clear that we each develop our own unique strategies. For me, the key is to have reliable companies that understand and respect my fee schedule, and that approach has been working quite effectively for me.
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