WOW. Are you just handing them a stack of loan documents to sign and skipping the part about providing a brief statement about the general purpose of each loan document?
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Hah! No, I explain, but I donāt over-explain.
In 20 years, I can count on one hand the number of times a signing has taken 90 minutes. 30-40 minutes is average for me, but I realize that some of that is just a function of the package size, as well as experience and fluency with the docs. I always level set in the beginning what my role is, and what I am able and unable to do.
I follow the āCode of Conduct,ā which calls for presenting āā¦each closing document to a signer in conformance with a signing presentation guidelines authorized by the contracting company, and by naming and stating the general purpose of the document, specifying the number of pages and indicating where signatures, dates or initials are to be placed.ā
No more, no less.
excellent, Benjamin
Washmobilenotary, this is not all directed at your post but it brings up some things that I would like to address:
I have never understood why notaries get hung up on package size so much. I find that large packages are just formatted differently so a document that is one page from one company is just formatted to be 2 pages and sometimes 3 from another company.
Some companies Hazzard Insurance requirements are 2 pages while others are 8 pages (ie Wells Fargo). It is slightly annoying to priint a 150- 200 page package compared to a 100-130 page package but it really doesnt take me any longer to do as you flip past those pages. Also, many companies include 25 pages of Closing Instructions and another 25 pages of Insurance Deck pages, Graphs of Structures and Payoff Instructions which most of which is of little relevance and interest to the Signor. Yes, it cost a few pennies more to print (another thing that I hear complaining over and over again about). Source your materials at a lower cost and it doesnt affect your cost basis very much. But, it just doest take much longer to complete the signing. Faxbacks take 4 or 5 minutes when they are needed instead of 2-4 minutes (another complaint I hear all the time as well). Faxbacks can also be done later in the day or evening 95 percent of time and are not always required to be done immediately.
Notaries need to accept these variables as part of the job and stop complaining about what is just a fundamental component of Loan Signing work.
It takes as long as it takes Cassy. The first may take 2-1/2 hrs then 2 hrs than 1-1/2 hrs. Every client will be different. Concentrate on giving the best service not the time.
Tip 1. I save time by turning pages sideways when client has a question. We than call our contact at the end to answer all questions instead of making multiple calls if possible.
Tip 2. If you are using a signing service be sure to tell the client to answer the survey they get after you confirm your status to let the EO know how it went. They will be asked if you dressed professionally and how the signing went. The quality of the assignment is more important than the time it takes to do it.
I find it less stressful to make sure you have at least 3 hours between signings as a newbie. You will get done quicker with experience. Good Luck to you!
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Totally agree with you on all the benefits of this job. I love it.
Im following on this one
It can be 7 mins to 1 hr.
In my experienceā¦ IF they are getting a good amount sent to them , they do not waste time reading every single page. The only page they are concerned about is the bank wire information 
If they have to send in funds, they will possibly read almost every page.
I personally enjoy completing HELOCās/Sellers! Fast, Small page count and good pay!
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I usually have a pretty good rapport with my signers so i enjoy helping them and am watchful of their reactions to what i say and do. Iāve never had a bad report and it would probably crush me if i did. Iām liberal but not verbose with my descriptions of docs. With my magical vinyl gloves (Iāll never stop using them), I can do it in 45 but mostly do it in an hour and 15 if itās a huge package or if they have questions that require a return phone call form the lender.
I always stand up at the end and flip through docs so that they know iām ready to leave.
Table time with your signers - 45 min to 1.5 hours depending on package size and how closely they want to read the documents.
Total time from the moment you open the package to prep, print, pack, travel, proof read, and ship - about 2-3 hours.
Both are typical times for my region. Iāve done a refi that included a 1031 exchange that took 4.5 hours. The signer had no idea what she was doing.
I totally agree with you on the required time to perform one signing. I donāt understand how some signers can squeeze 5,6, or even 7 signings in a day! I had one 200 page loan package signing with 28 notarial acts. I spent one hour to doing the signing and two hours to fill out the journal and perform the notarial acts. The SS didnāt tell me how many notarial acts are required for this document. I should have asked before accepting the signing.
28 notarial acts? Wow!
. Thatās $420 just for notarization alone! Hope you were well paid for that one.
It was a $130 signing. I didnāt know better.
Lesson learnedā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.
You can do that many when the average time is shorter(30mins or less), youāre picking up/dropping off multiple files to the same office and youāre good at logistics.
Takes time and experience of course.
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I tell the refi signers, one person signing =45 minutes, 2 persons signing= 1 and 15minutes (usually 1 hour)
Reverse mortgage = 2 hours. (Usually 2 hours).
Frank
Sun City Center, Florida
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Yeah, try charging $420 for the signing and see how far you get 
The SS doesnāt know how many notarial acts. They donāt go through the documents and count them. I know what you mean about 5,6 or 7 signings a day though. When you operate in a wide spread region like Los Angeles and Ventura County, logistics alone make it impossible.
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Two Hundred pages sound like a typical Texas Refinance closing. My largest Refi to date was 315 pages, with about 30 Notarial Acts, 17 were separate POAs.
They may not be transparent. There are the success bombers who want to brag about how āsuccessfulā they are to boost their self esteem or public image. Some will tell how fast you can complete an assignment, while ignoring that not every region has the same market conditions, distance to travel, and business volume. In other words they think that their market is same for every one.
Donāt forget that your time to close starts when you open the email to review the docs, print 2x, pack, get on the road, complete the signing, and ends when you drop off at Fedex. This will obviously take more than 30 minutes. The more typical timeline is closer to 1.5 to 2 hours total time. With 7 signings per day this will put your average day at closer to 14 hours.
The size of the document package is often State dependent. This can have a significant impact on your timeline.
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