We all know that we are not currently being paid what we should be paid and hope the market will turn and offers will go up. It’s absurd to think that signing services believe loan packages can be done for what we all see offered - $35, $40, $50, $75.
I rarely accept an offer that I do not have to counter and those are almost always last minute they are desperate to find someone now situations.
Those of us who have been around for a while have learned through experience or through places like Notary Cafe who doesn’t pay or who pays slow. I will not mention names but I’ve had some services send me their payment schedules which can be be 45-60 days, 60-75 days and one that even is 75-90 days. Then there are those that you get paid in 50-60 days but you have to email and/or invoice them once or twice to get paid.
We are all in business for ourselves and need to make our own business decisions. I have decided to have a 3 tier price strategy based on how timely signing services pay. If I am receiving payment automatically in a month or so they get my best price, when I am waiting 45 days or more the price is higher and when the payment period exceeds 60 days the price is higher again.
If I know they will pay I am willing to wait for the payment but I am not willing do take a lower fee to wait. They set the terms for their payments - they should expect to pay more for holding our money. They get paid right away.
I use Notary Gadget and it tracks the payment history so I know the average days to pay for each signing service I work with. If they don’t like my offer they do not have to accept it.
I base my counter offers off the type of signing, the time frame they reach out to me compared to the time frame they want the signing done. I base it off distance as well. You do have to make the best business decision for you and your business.
There are many things that you need to factor into pricing a signing, some of which are unknown at the time that you accept it. Just because a signing service throws a standard (low) fee out there in a blasted job offer, it doesn’t mean that you have to take the job for that amount. If you want that job, no matter what, then you probably do have to accept their fee immediately, but you’re free to take your chances and counteroffer. Depending on the company the offer is coming from, you’ll get some counteroffers and others you won’t. I wouldn’t say that you should never accept a job offer at the posted fee, because it may be right around the block, a quick signing, and you pocket the money. However, if that same offer is an hour drive from you, that’s another story. How much is driving an hour each way worth in terms of your time and vehicle expenses? The short answer to that is that it’s probably worth more than they’re paying for the entire job. That’s why I say that no job offers are created equal, for everyone. Create a strategy for yourself, and stick to it.
I don’t do what you’ve suggested, but you do make a valid point: they ARE using your money for differing amounts of ‘time (is money)’, so it seems fair to charge more due to their terms.
I just don’t completely understand why we have to wait for our payment. As soon as the escrow closes, we should be paid as everyone else in the closing.
You shouldn’t have to wait for your payment. But….signing services need to pay the rent, utilities, employee salaries, and other overhead before they can pay YOU. It’s all part of running a business. Prioritize taking work from signing services that you know you can depend on for timely payment. They are out there.
In my area, there are a lot of notaries, so there is competition. Generally countering back is a waste as there is always a newbie who works cheap. Its sad, but life
Good luck to all, this has been a failed experiment on my part. The math just does not add up for the effort, the fees are never going up I fear. By the time there is any relief in interest rates, the services will have already set the standard, of lower offers. I simply don’t see a path to ever returning to 200+signing fees regardless of what interest rates do.
