Hi,
I’ve been commissioned since April and despite website and signing up for 10 signing services, I had my 1st COMPLETED signing this past Friday.
What is a respectable rate for newbies. I’ve had prior notary experience… NOT loan signing related… years ago but now got back in this game after being laid off. I know Im new and everything but I STILL got to eat too!! Tired of them sending me low ball offers too!! Please advise, I know my worth! Can somebody provide a complete breakdown of fees I can charge as an Experienced Notary but Newbie NSA?
You have to think of yourself as a business owner and not an employee. You have to determine Your expenses as a business owner and charge accordingly.
Lights, computer, building or home, printer, ink, paper, gas, mileage, travel time, scan backs, document size, etc. Everything is entirely up to you. Someone may give you an idea of what they charge but you still have to do you.
Well, this month is my second month. I’ve been a notary for over 10 years, but not as a loan signing agent. I got my NSA on July 2020, & really don’t know what to expect, don’t know how & where to start. My first signing assignment was on July 30th, fee was $75, with 300+ copies. And I thought, is this what I signed for? To make the story short, I took anything the first week ($50, $65, $75), just to get the feel of it. My first signing took me 2 1/2 hours for a refi. Three weeks after, I average $100 and took me between 30 & 40 minutes per transaction per signing, and now I tried to work 3 days a week signing, averaging 4 signings a day. One thing I learn is, once you get familiar with the documents, it becomes easier and you’ll have your own technique of organizing everything. Hopefully this helps…
That’s great but when you work direct with the title company/escrow officer can you imagine you would have gotten paid $150 x 3= $450 per day for a week for less amount of work. The EO print the docs for you and…they only give you 1 set of documents and send the client their docs either email or mail them. Mark Wills Loan Signing System he teaches you how to get work directly with EO. That’s how I know what to do. And…they pay 3 to 5 business days or up to a week after the loan is funded.
Ask more than you are willing to settle. What you settle is what you make. Don’t discount your print fees, they don’t want to pay extra for big packages, don’t let them pay less for small packages.
Ive been an NSA for only two months. I took anything I could get for the first few weeks, because I knew i needed experience. I worked for Coast 2 Coast. After about 20 signings, I had a high rating and other companies began sending offers for higher paying jobs.
I know your feeling… I’m in the same boat. I’m a newbie, but knowledgeable of business, work office and ethic, meaning I’m not stupid at all, and when I see offers of $75, the most $125 for 200 pages to review and make sure everything is error-fee, I ask myself “is this what I deserve for this kind of job and dedicating around 3-4 hours since I accept the offer?”… 3-4 hours includes paperwork preparation, printing, reviewing and post-it-flags signatures, scanning to send back, drive to FedEx or UPS locations, PLUS the 30-45 hrs drive (one way) to signers/borrower(s)…
So! Is a relieve to read that it will get better and I have to pay in order to learn… because at the end all these low ball companies are looking for newbies to do the work that other experienced NSA won’t take, because they know their value… let’s just hang in there and wait
EXACTLY RIGHT! However, once you’ve put yourself in the bargain bin with a co, you’ll find it very hard to get a higher fee…because “these low ball companies are looking for A NEW BATCH OF newbies to do the work that other experienced NSA won’t take”.
Shame on them, right?.. I started with C2C, but since they don’t want to offer more I’m not receiving much from them and I rather wait for other offers. I only take their signings if is in my area. I’m very professional, on time, scan and upload, deliver same day or next morning the loan packages… their offers are an insult!
This is where you will have to do some cost analysis on a micro scale. How much is a ream of paper? How much is toner? How many pages can you reasonably expect to print from a single toner cartridge? How much is the average cost per page to print? These are real costs to you.
If we received retail price for each notarial act in a loan package, in addition to print fees, gas, car maintenance, insurance, etc. we’d surely price ourselves out of the market. Just as we’re looking to make a profit, so are the people who hire us.
You’re going to constantly be adjusting your fees until you find the sweet spot. Be flexible, but don’t let them break you. Especially if you’re getting your first assignment directly from a title company instead of a signing service. Title companies pay quickly, which is one of the reasons why we all want direct work from them instead of a signing service.
Keep in mind, this is not a get rich quick business. It takes time to build relationships with title companies. We all have to pay our dues when we’re first starting out, but not $30 an assignment. That’s ridiculous. If you’re able to score $75-$100 fresh out of training, that’s about right. Build your reputation with solid professional work ethic. Get your packages back to title quickly. If your assignment’s title company is local to you, call the settlement agent and ask them if you can swing by to hand deliver the loan package to save them the FedEx fee. They love that. That’s how I got my first direct from title gig. I asked to hand deliver a signing service package the same day I completed it, and a week later they called me to ask if I was interested in doing a seller and buyer gig back to back in the same day. A little goodwill pays dividends, especially if you’re letting them know you want to save them money.
The beautiful thing about this business is you get out what you put into it. People in real estate notice small details. That’s their job. People always remember when you do little things to make their job easier.
This has worked for me, I am not a TIPIC/NSA*. However, there is a market besides the signing companies who need notaries and are willing to negotiate. The difference is there is no third party. I seek outside businesses, i.e. auctions and so forth. My highest rate for a 30 pg document is 130.00. My range is 75-130 depending on distance. So be vigilant, seek out other paying sources as well as Snapdocs. I send invoices if needed and get paid net 7 days. Stay Safe and hope this helps. (Maryland).
Just a heads up - do a search for Snapdocs - there’s recent info posted that will absolutely make your head spin. May have you re-thinking this statement.
Don’t work for them, no dog in the fight except my concern for my fellow notaries - just want you all aware of what is going on
I apologize - I was sure it had been posted here too but maybe not. Cross-posting between forums is frowned upon - I’m waiting for permission from the person who posted the link to re-post it here
What it boils down to (and I did not read the link, just others’ posts, and no personal experience here) is SD adjusts title company fees to what they think is regional - so if a title company goes through SD and offers, let’s say $125 for the signing, SD will post the fee at what they consider the acceptable fee for that region, despite what the notary’s published fee is …so they may post that $125 job for $75-$85
As soon as I get permission from the other person to post the link I will
Thanks for the clarification, I’m retired so I don’t depend on SD unless I’m free and close to home. I have companies that call me direct. I’m sure most of us work outside of SD as well. Thanks
I was commissioned in April and didn’t do my first signing until May 22. It seems a good starting point is $100, at least for me. There is a company here that will only pay $85 and I do work for them, but I will only take signings if I’m slow and it’s less than 10 miles. It also depends where you are. I’m in Colorado so I’m not sure what the going rate is there, but here most people pay at least $100 for refi or buyer or seller only package, $125-$150 for Reverse Mortgage and $175-$200 for a full purchase. You definitely have to sign up with at least 100 companies though. Once I got the ball rolling it’s been great ever since.
