Here’s are great article on Zillow: The Demise of Zillow's IBuying Division: Why Zillow Stopped Buying Houses
1 Like
!!! In my blog world use a lot of exclamation points 
Market is supply and demand. I live in a military / senior town. Government is investing billions to improve submarine bases and submarines. Between the need for housing military personnel and seniors wanting smaller affordable homes, Kitsap County WA is stepping up their game and building to serve this population and tech population moving into the area. More full care senior apartments are also being constructed. Aside from my real estate side of notarizations, my calls for POA’s for medical and financial purposes have increased. People are also refinancing auto loans and needing those documents notarized but not able to have this done during work hours. I will be updating my Google Business Ad in 2022 to make myself more available to community. Must be creative with business outlook.
Wow, I didn’t think people refinanced their auto loans. Can one really save much money doing that? I’m not knocking it; I’m just surprised. I do live in a bubble, though, I know that.
Some people paid too high of an interest rate on auto loans for whatever reason then later are in a better place to refinance. Credit Karma has calculation tools to see if this is a worth while process for a person based on current balance and interest rate. Hope this information helps.
Helpful answer, thanks!
I heard purchase signings are still going strong.
I see changes. Much of it thanks to COVD. My wife and I just bought some raw land, after inspecting it, placed an offer over the phone. Everything was done over the phone and via e-mail; including the RON notarizations. A piece of cake.
With less running around, agents can do more, lenders can do more, title companies can do more, notaries can do more all with less effort, lower costs and expenses, and everybody wins…except for the individual that just lost its job.
That CEO from better.com was let go/“took a leave of absence” once word got around how he treated those 900+ people like trash. Finally, some justice and decency.
My answer ! We haven’t seen anything yet
We have all been through the year that was. There has never been a year like 2021 and now 2022 is on the horizon. As many of you know, my wife and I are full time Brokers with many years in real estate. We have seen many, many years of UP and DOWN economies. Mostly they are controlled by politics. The law that controls prices … on real estate and every thing else is INTEREST rates. Low interest breeds HIGHER prices… High rates bring prices DOWN. You can see the low rates shot house prices UP… Way UP. The current government spending is bringing that awful word to bear … inflation … so prices on homes have to go DOWN. Because they are OUT of range. Home buyers look at their monthly payment just like a car they want to know : how much a month is this going to cost me? Higher interest rates bring higher monthly costs means they have to buy a cheaper home. Re-Fi rates will be higher so owners will have fewer choices. Look for the Ri-Fi market to decline sharply. There goes a lot of those EZ signings out the window. Foreclosures will sharply increase by March…bringing prices of the whole market DOWN.
The opposite market will surface …rather than buyers buying quickly because prices going up they now will wait because prices are coming down, Maybe next month things will be cheaper. Sales go DOWN.
The OUTCOME…LESS Sales, Ri-Fi’s = less work for Note’s.
TC’s and attorneys will use their own office help to handle the business. Because business will be much less.
Sorry Note’s.
1 2 / 3
3 Likes
Anxiety grips LOs as layoffs sweep the industry
Good read. Link: shorturl.at/kFQVW
This is just another real estate cycle we will be going through, the notaries (like us pros) will not have any issues, just little less volume. The newbies that just started in the last 2 years will be going back to what ever else they did. (like when teachers were quitting their jobs to become realtors back in 2004-2006). But the notaries that ride out this slow down, and continue to build their business, will be better off once they come out the end.
4 Likes
Houston, Dallas, and Fort Woth have seen s sharp increase in Evictions over the last 2 months. Phoenix is up there with these cities as well.
I spoke with a couple of my SS and one TC, who are saying the same thing. I’ve had several of my NSA colleagues in Central Texas returning to the job market. The return to the job market here, seems to be driven by improving employment opportunities and income/effort balance of the NSA business being out of synch with the promises from “6-Figure Singings University”.
6 Likes
In my neighborhood, in November the loan closings slowed way down. So thankfully it’s back to being just a general notary. I’ll miss the extra money but who actually does this for a living? Heck, the average income in a 5-mile radius of me is $140,000+ a year. That’s more than the magic hardly attainable six figures. So that got me curious. According to .signingagent.com, there are 75 certified signing agent notaries within that same 5-mile radius of my house. 41 of them, unfortunately, have 1 year or less experience. This is not good news now that the loans are drying up.
4 Likes
I know but you must have something positive to say too?
My analysis show there are approximately 20-50 new SAs entering the business in Texas each month. I’m getting calls from newbies complaining that the income promises made by the professors of 6-Figure Income University, aren’t being manifest. A couple have stated that the low ball engagements aren’t covering their costs.
Like you I’m also seeing a large number of those with less than 1 year. Ironically, I’ve been engaged to handle resigns for the less experienced.
2 Likes
What are you referring to?
Throughout 2021 I’ve bat cleanup on several loans a week. Usually, one notarization, scan, package, and drop. Easy money.
2 Likes
How interesting! Somebody that is educated on what is going on at this time! Brace yourself folks! This new year is going to be a whopper!
3 Likes
Hopefully this reduces the number of signing agents.
4 Likes