I live in Florida and I’m starting to see lower rates from companies that use to start out offering $125. I guess they figured hey everyone else is offering low fees why shouldn’t we. And yes I know to counter but before you can counter it’s gone within 2 minutes. So people are taking the rates !
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I know in my area if a rate is starting at $125 - you don’t want it. There is some problematic item for the high fee to start. I always counter and my starting fee is $100. It would be paying to work if I took anything less.
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We can’t really know what rate someone gets a job at if we’re not the person getting the job. Someone could just be faster than you.
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2 minutes? More like 2 seconds!
Yes, people are obviously taking the low rates. What you describe is exactly what’s happening. One sees the others offering low rates, so they lower theirs to match.
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Yes, if I seen an offer of $125 from a signing service, my first thought is to wonder what the problem is with that signing. Too big of a package? Too distant? Four signers? Late at night?
That’s not to say you can’t get $125 for a “normal” signing from a signing service. You can, but most likely you have to counter to get it.
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If you respond immediately to a text blast and someone beat you too it, I conclude that they took it at the offered rate. Those get assigned instantly. If you counter, it takes time for it to go through, even if they accept your counter. I imagine that this is for a couple of reasons. First, it takes time for them to manually change the rate and send the acceptance. Second, they may wait to see if anyone takes it for lower than your counter rate.
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I agree that they took it for the offered rate
And it could have been a service that tiers their blasts and you’re not the first tier so you really don’t know.
You are absolutely correct. But for the most part it is people taking exactly what’s being offered . All I’m saying is people are driving the prices down. It could be a lot of things but I’m just pointing this out
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And I continue to point out to what other people do does not impact what we do as loan signing agents. I don’t take jobs for less than my published fees. I don’t think that means that if everybody did what I did all the offered fees would magically go up companies are always gonna try and make the most profit they can.
I guess I think the focus should be somewhere else besides fees.
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In my experience, counter offers only work when 
- When they need a Notary within a short time, and they don’t find anyone reliable in that area
- You are working with them for a long time, and you are the preferred signing agent for them
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Okay folks, let’s be real, we all know people are taking these low fees. We know why too, there’s way too many Loan Signing Agents/Notaries. It’s a low volume signing orders with too many LSAs fighting for gigs.
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Exactly!. People make up every excuse there is instead of saying that people are actually taking low fees.
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I think it’s entirely possible people take low fees. I’m just glad I don’t have to do that anymore.
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I am glad that you made a nice connection, but as a new Notary, it’s really hard to even survive
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Maybe so, but everyone wants to make as much money as they can, and it does hurt to see that teenagers working in fast food joints make a higher net hourly rate than we do. They pay $24 an hour at McDonalds in California now. No expenses against it either, like we have. So, of course everyone’s focus is going to be on fees.
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After I stopped laughing I asked Ai what’s floating out there in the ether.
(Ai says) In the context of the loan signing agent industry, the phrase “focus should be somewhere else besides fees” suggests that the community’s attention should shift away from the ongoing debate about low service rates. The speaker argues that simply refusing to accept lower fees or pointing out competitors’ pricing does not inherently raise market rates, as companies will always seek maximum profit. Instead, the term implies that agents should concentrate on other value drivers—such as service quality, efficiency, or professional standards—rather than fixating on price competition, which the speaker views as a futile or secondary concern.
(I say) The problem there is the fees charged to the borrowers are basically the same as they were 25 years ago and even if the fees sometimes go sky high the worker’s (notaries) are still compensated at the same level and the windfall goes to the hiring party.
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Even now, I look at the closing statement, and the notary fee is $250. Yet, I had to counteroffer to get $100. There is just something so wrong with that picture.
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An Apprentice electrician/plumber and a Journeyman electrician/plumber and a Master electrician/plumber are all offered the same wage, right?? NOPE.
A novice notary and a skilled notary and an amazing notary are all offered the same fee, right?? Say YES, within the Signing Service segment.
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That’s because on loan signings, especially when a signing service is involved, the hiring party is the one who sets the fee. In any other business, the person who performs the service sets the fees. So, of course, it turns into a game of “who will accept the lowest fee?” You can either accept what they offer or counteroffer. Either way, fees will be suppressed.
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