How long does it take from the time that you agree to do the loaning signing with your client, set up the appointment with the borrower, prepare documents, sign with the borrower, fax back documents, and ship documents to the title company. Please feel free to add steps if I’ve missed any. Also, it would be helpful to know the differences in time and responsibility for different types of signings (New Purchase, Refinance, Reverse Mortgage, HELOC). I’m working on my pricing model, so it’s best to be detailed with the components. Thanks for your help!
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Amount of time it takes to complete a loan signing assignment from start to finish depends on many things, such as your experience level, the type and size of the loan package, whether the loan documents are ready when you receive the assignment and/or how long it takes to receive the complete loan package, how far you must travel to reach the signers, how many signers, whether they sign their names quickly or if every signature is a concentrated effort for them, whether they have questions, whether they need to stop and read every document before signing, and whether they have questions, and whether any issues arise at the signing table and whether those questions/issues requires you to stop and contact your hiring company to resolve before proceeding. After the signing, you will do a quality control check to make sure everything is signed/completed and notarized correctly. If scanbacks are required, then it depends on how fast/efficient you and your equipment are. Depends on how fast can you do the scanbacks and then drop loan documents at the FedEx/UPS shipping facility. And depends on whether FedEX/UPS is going to be open after you have successfully completed the scanbacks. For example, if you are doing a Saturday night signing and FedEx/UPS is closed by the time you complete your scanbacks, you will need to wait to drop the loan package at the shipping facility first thing Monday morning and get a drop receipt with a tracking number.
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Thanks Carmen! I appreciate your response. There definitely are many uncontrollable factors. The 2 factors I’d like to focus in on are: the condition of the loan package and the time the borrower may need. I know there are a lot of seasoned loan signing agents on this forum, so I was hoping to get a feel for what the average time it takes for a seasoned LSA to do these things (setting a benchmark). It’d also be helpful to hear stories about the fastest and slowest loan signings…could be entertaining.
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2-3 hours, excluding travel time. Table time only: Fastest: 9 minutes/small pkg/signer in a big hurry. Longest: 3 hours/signer read every document. I generally allow 1 hr. table time when guesstimating.
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Ok. Figure it this way: At the signing table, if you give yourself 1 minute to introduce yourself, settle in, and explain the process, then if you have 100 page refinance loan package and your signer averages only 30 seconds per page to review and sign (and if they have no questions), that is about 50 minutes. Then for you to do your quality control check afterwards, if you needed only 5-10 seconds per page, that is another 5-10 minutes. Then when you are completely finished, give yourself another minute to thank the signers, pack up, and depart. That is roughly one hour from start to finish.
When signers ask me how long it will take, I tell them it will take about 90min give or take, depending on how many pages, how long it takes to sign, and whether they have questions. I never want to over promise and under deliver. Because if I tell a signer it will only take 30min and then it ends up taking them a hour to complete it, they may get frustrated or mad. I hope this helps you.
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Thanks Arickter! Great breakdown! 9 minutes WOW! Do you think that the package containing a Right to Cancel document in it impacts the time it takes them?
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Great breakdown Carmen! Your thoughts on the impact of a Right to Cancel doc in the package and how it might impact the time it takes.
Don’t want a bad review from them for sure…got to keep the borrower happy.
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No RTC will take longer as even a small seller pkg. (& they mostly are comparatively small) seems to take as long as a much larger refi pkg. due to questioning of charges/calls to Title and there’s a lot of forms they have to complete. Still 1 hour. (Those will never be a 9 minute miracle.)
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RTCs in a loan package isn’t a major time issue for me, Casey. Right to Cancel documents are considered part of the critical loan documents.
You will have reviewed the entire loan package including any RTC forms for accuracy before departing your home for the signing appointment. I make sure there are three RTC forms per signer.
I look at the dates on the RTC. If the dates are correct, Ijust move forward. If RTC dates are wrong, I instruct the borrowers/signers how to make and then have them initial their corrections.
I read the document title and succinctly state the document’s general purpose and then indicate to the signers where their attention is required to sign/date on the loan documents as needed. Voila
It depends. I’ve noticed some signers are a little nervous with the whole process and are curious about " what you do all day"
I’m generally chatty but also am sensitive to time constraints. I will ASK them if we are up against a deadline or time crunch in case we get on a subject.
usually an hour or an hour fifteen for LARGE packages. I’ve done speedy signings too. But Then if I have to scan or drive far…someone said 3 hours. So divide 100 by 3, subtract your printing and gas costs and and you will probably be broke after that.
The job is still amazing and fun…I love to drive, see my state, meet people and navigate new learning curves. What makes you happy? And sometimes I get those amazing signing companies that will pay me extra
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My .02FWIW - I would not just automatically change these dates without title approval - it’s possible they are not wrong as lender as the discretion to shorten the rescission period, lengthen it or waive it altogether. Even though most of us are highly qualified to determine this, it’s not something that is a given - we don’t always know what has happened before the docs end up in our hands.
JMO
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Understood. If the signing date is wrong, then the rescission date is also wrong. And these are things to discuss with the hiring company. Typically if they are sending us an outdated loan pkg, the RTC correction instructions are included with the signing agent instructions. I would never arbitrarily make these decisions on my own as a notary.
The number of notarizations in the docs can also factor in timewise. I have done basic refi’s with as few as 5 and as many as 13. I do prefill these but it does add to the overall time.
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Excellent point. My record has been 17 notarizations in a single refi loan pkg 
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One of my favorite questions from a signer, when confirming the appointment on the phone with them, is “How long will this take?”. When they ask that, I know that they aren’t going to be time-wasters.
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It is true for me sometimes too. How do you respond?
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Hi there! First time writing on the blog. I have been trying to figure out how long an average signing will take myself. This is what I have determined:
- Receiving/reviewing confirmation email; attempting to confirm appointment with client; entering info in my accounting software (if I have to call signer multiple times, chase after docs, etc takes more time) - 15 - 45min
- Printing and reviewing docs (includes reviewing and flagging docs, doc/notary count and prefilling out my notary journal) - 45 - 60 min.
- Drive time - 30 - 75 min
- Signing time 45 - 90 min (it has taken as long as 2.5 hours and as little as 15 min - very rare though)
- Drive home time - 30-75 min
- Scan and upload docs (includes printing IDs and adding to, downloading, combining and reducing the size of the scan back doc) - 30-45 min
- Trip to FedEx/UPS - local 20 min - have to go into town (Saturday drop off 90 min.)
So that being said the time per signing can run 3.5 to 8 hours. My average is about 5.5 to 6 hours per signing. I hope this was helpful!
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I just had one with 17 as well. It was a 183 pg package with two signers!
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Longer than they need to since the signers are clueless about everything 90% of the time lol. 30min (good) to an hour+ (not good).
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90 mins!?! Wow! Very rare for me. I find that by setting expectations from the get-go, “this will take around 30 mins,” we generally end up pretty close to that. Unless of course it’s a “reader,” or there are issues. I find that prep work pays off. Before leaving the house, I review all docs, move critical docs to the front (put back in original order afterwards), mark each signature with a “sign here” stickie, and complete as much upfront as I can (Patriot Act, ID Letter, etc). Average is 30 mins, plus 5-10 mins quality check.
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