I’ve been reading different topics and I notice that the NEWBIES don’t get much love here…
We all were new at some point… right ??
And I’m sure those that have been in the business a long time had mentors and amazing people to guide them…
I read somewhere that the prices of refi’s and HELOCS have went down because of new people…and I laughed
I’m going to just keep the faith (( lol lol ))… Hopefully some SA will show us newbies some love and amazing knowledge…
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We do show newbies love - by trying to advise and mentor over a forum, warn them of slow payers and non-payers, and numerous threads advising them how to set up their business, what they need, how to determine the fee to charge for services…
But look at it from a veteran’s point of view - we try and try and try - over and over again…only to find we are ignored
You said “I read somewhere that the prices of refi’s and HELOCS have went down because of new people…” - let me tell you, it’s true. They’ve fallen for the line of “take the lower paying jobs to build experience and later your fees will go up” - well, as we’ve said before, it’s not true. Once a person bargain-basement prices themselves, that’s where they normally stay. And companies realize that “hey, we’ve got a cheap live one here”. IF ONLY people (especially new people) would read and heed what veterans post about the market, how to get paid better, how to set up their business, etc etc - imagine how good things would be when it’s treated like a business and not just a hobby (which, btw, should the IRS make that determination, is cause for major headaches).
Anyone in any sector who sets up a new business should do the research about the demand for that business in their area. And that includes the notary signing agent business. Anyone who doesn’t is doomed to fail.
JMO and my $.02 FWIW
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Yes, we were all new, but, No, we pretty much learned the hard way–no mentors–had to figure it out ourselves.
We try, but it seems few newbs listen:
- There are way more notaries than available jobs.
- Hiring party knows this, so they go way low to find a fool newb who’ll do it at a loss for a lot of stupid reasons promoted by hiring party, *i.e., get your name out there; experience; take a loss to prove yourself & then the big bucks will start; and the biggest fallacy–take the loser fee and make it up on volume, as well as personal mistaken reasons: I have bills to pay; I’ve spent so much to get started, I have to make something; and the dumbest yet–I’m special – so everyone’s past experience and advice just doesn’t apply to me.
- I just can’t be bothered figuring out what MY costs actually are–so just tell me what to charge.
- All of above contribute to the way too low fees we all are offered!
Reality is simply the less money you make, the higher the profit for hiring party.
There’s always another newb to take advantage of…and another, and another.
In today’s high interest rate market, business is way down–and not about to turn around any time soon. This is now side-gig $–not a livable income.
The experienced among us are not going to hand you our good-paying clients, and understand that my best clients most likely wouldn’t be yours anyway–because it IS a very area-specific relationship that only you can build. Hint–they aren’t the platforms!
Best advice…repeated over & over here is: Don’t give up your day job. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. NEVER work at a loss. Do figure out your costs so you’ll know what to quote to be profitable. In today’s climate–ALWAYS counter. And stop whining that you say yes, but don’t get the job. Eventually, they’ll get used to seeing your name and you’ll get a job–do it well & you’ll get more. Understand that the closest notary is most likely to get the job–unless, of course, some dumb newb takes it at a loss.
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I had a mentor so I had a resource for things that caught me off guard on packages. I learned to reach out to title companies on documents I wasn’t sure of - don’t guess. Always go to the source for document specific questions.
Take the free video trainings Coast 2 Coast has on YouTube. They are pros. Also on their website.
Veterans grow weary of competing for jobs with their years of experience with brand new notaries who are taking chump change fees to “get experience”.
My first year I signed up with Timios and they are super cheap won’t pay more than $90 on a signing and packages are big but it’s GREAT experience and they pay on time. Veterans aren’t going to compete with you for Timios jobs. So sign up there and do a lot of them. The packages are huge after you get assigned reach out and ask for a printing fee since it’s so big I always got a $10 bump when I did that.
I did not make big profits the first year. But I stopped taking low paying orders after I looked at what I was spending on supplies. I don’t turn in errors so there are some schedulers out there who favor me and I am doing okay. But I took early retirement from SS because I just can’t get the volumn up where it needs to be. Mostly because I continue to refuse the jobs that pay crap fees. When I started - I took them all and did 4 or 5 signings a day.
I’m doing 2-3 a day but at fees I find acceptable. There are veterans who would probably disagree with me, because on this forum I see lots of veterans with pretty high expectations on what they should get paid. If you can get direct with a title company those higher fees are available. But if you are relying on a signing platforms AI scheduling - you just have to be fast and smart. People say they figure their profit before accepting or countering - that takes too much time. I know what fee I charge for what location and that’s what I go with. I don’t get out a calculator when a request of service text gets received. You don’t have a few minutes you have a few seconds. If a package comes in over 150 pages I ask for more and usually get it.
If this is your only source of income - that’s going to be a struggle no matter where you are. I have no idea if that’s helpful.
And I confess - some questions posted just tell me how incredibly green some notaries are. Same with 18 pages of instructions that cover things notaries should already absolutely know. I do eyerolls. Can’t help it.
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Now THIS LADY gets it. Keep pushing those fees up. They really can afford it.
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Yes, I was new to the field once. But I didn’t have nor did I request a mentor. I did the footwork and the research by looking at my own refi package, learning the forms, researching the terms, signing onto sites that offered knowledge based articles and testing and asking one charitable soul if I could shadow her on a few closings. After about six months I signed onto the NNA, read the guidebooks, took and passed the tests then headed out as a newly minted LSA. From the jump I was earning (and they were paying) $100 per signing with little experience. But, what I did have was knowledge. What I have seen here from new notaries is an unwillingness to do the work. What is appalling are comments like:
— I’ve bought the equipment and taken the course, how do I sign up with the best companies
— what goes in this blank
— do I sign this form or is this line for the borrower to sign
— what does CD stand for
— I’ve never done a seller signing, what do I do
— what is a cash closing
And the most egregious of all is accepting a $30 closing and having the righteous indignation to tell the most seasoned of us that you have bills to pay while you are learning. As if the rest of us dont! What new notaries seem loathed to understand is that your bills are being woefully underserved at $30 a clip, that you will mostly not see for 60 days. In the meantime your bills continue to mount as you are aiding the signing services to justify a drive to the bottom to eventually offer no more than $15 for a job requiring you to print 2 sets of 100+ page documents, and drive 20+ miles to sign, then scan back and drop at that rate.
If you are looking for love, look in the mirror and hopefully you will see someone worth more than $30, with the skills to back up her perceived value. Then we will welcome you to our team with open arms. Until then, you will only hear hard truths from those of us willing to stay on this ride with you. But, it’s getting old!
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Well said, Tisino - could not agree more!
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@Sophianotaryservices Well, from my direct experience interfacing with you on multiple threads & several posts, my vote goes to Tisino & her accurately, concise appraisal of what many of us have seen for decades . . .
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I can tell you for a FACT there are no mentors (unless you pay for their services or are related to someone who will “school” you). When I initially entered this business sector within a different notary forum, there definitively was no assistance to be offered whatsoever . . . in fact, there were ad hominem attacks galore for anyone who “dared” to enter this business sector without a background in it or some serious connections.
Keep in mind that I brought to the proverbial signing table a quintessential professional to work with clients as an internationally Certified Professional Manager of Projects (PMP) with a 20-year Corporate tenure under my belt at the executive level managing budgets into the billons of dollars. Yet, that didn’t matter whatsoever to anyone. Oh well, I thought at the time, guess they want everyone to start as a “broom pusher” regardless of their real-world experience.
This is another reason that I strongly recommended that you not waste your funds on any training, but the Notary2Pro courses & their Mentoring.
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Thankfully, I found the Notary Cafe forum many years ago. Their Guidelines identify that all members are to establish & enhance a Welcoming environment for everyone who comes to learn.
As it has this type of environment, I’ve been able to learn & share & care over nearly two decades here with those new to the business sector to give them a boost/insight when possible.
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I’ve shared with you specifically lots of love & data & insights; however, those treasures were repeatedly rebuffed publicly. So, my last post to you identified that you & I have divergent viewpoints.
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Entering this business sector to provide professional signing agent services is launching an entrepreneurial adventure that requires all the research, deep dive, & fundamentals in order to survive & possibly thrive.
The members you’re creating threads & posts to are your competition - fellow business owners who donate their time & energy.
Several of us who are sages on this forum & who regularly donate our time & give our hard-earned wisdom - are now giving second thoughts to giving away our precious time & knowledge because of the items Tisino identified above.
There are a few sages who have already chosen to no longer post, but do still lurk . . . We all miss them, because it’s SO VALUABLE to have multiple contributors assisting those who are fledglings in the business.
P.S. Just as a Refresher, here are a few of the threads that I’ve provided that are simply CHOCK FULL of love & support:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.nationalnotary.org/file%20library/nna/download/nna-2023-notary-survey-results.pdf
I started in 1998 loan signings a year after. My prior experience was buying and selling a few homes; however, this LSA stuff isn’t a complicated endeavor. Just look how successful that guy is at conning people into quitting real jobs at $500 a pop to fail at this because the field has gotten too crowded. The flip side is it’s amazing how that “standard” $250 notary fee has been sliced and diced by a new marketing class that colludes to take most of that fee from the actual workers. I wish this current crop of newbies all the best; just remember this job is an adventure, not a career.
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Truer words have never been spoken. Every word is on point.
They’ll find this out at tax time and when discovering what the years of low or no-profit self-employment have done to their Social Security and bottom line. I am grateful for the many years of $250+ fees that allowed me to profit and invest.
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Not to mention IRS declaring their “business” is a “hobby” and wanting back taxes and interest…
It’s not just about location, like we all say - it’s also about research, research, research
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Kevin from So Calif concurs 100% First off, I have the ability to not have to accept low fees’s, you can read into that what you will. I started my business The Signing Resource purposefully and well thought out. My business consists of me and my valued customers. In the beginning, I thought very carefully about the signing services and chose two and have yet to accept one of their so-called offers. A typical loan package is $250.00 or higher… period. Will there be exceptions, of course. However, it will not be The Signing Resource accepting $75 for a $250 assignment! Maybe for a friend, not a SS. That would immediately have degraded my efforts of being a successful and profitable notary business. I’m just hitting my first-year anniversary, and I think some of the “seasoned” notary dogs would be proud of my accomplishments! I would love to share what I have been doing and how it is finally starting to pay off!
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In my opinion, every career is an adventure! Notary is a journey, an adventure, and a career- if you want to make it one. I read these posts and occasionally I chime in. I sense and rightfully so, much bitterness from the vets. I’m 62, this would be considered my third career if you will. Everything I learned along the way, all the experiences I’ve gained in life, will direct me along this journey. Younger newbies, if you are only doing this for fun or whatever, please try to refrain from accepting absurdly low fees. If you don’t know already what a low fee is, it is too late, we are all fdddd!
I disagree about only going with notary2pro. I took their course in 2021 and it was extremely outdated. Even their precious list of signing services was old. Half of them were no longer in business. In my opinion, Notary Stars has the best live training in the country. It’s live, current, and the resources you’re given are fantastic. You have access to all past classes and if they are no longer relevant, they get replaced with current material.
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Some will but most will only tell you what fees to accept. They don’t realize the market has been slow. Maybe they will wake up, tomorrow will be my third refi free $100, $100, $125. in the last 10 days only working part time turned down 5 requests because of conflicts.
I notice none of your fees quoted were the $45 $50 $60 $70 offers…which is what we “oldies” try to discourage…thank you for making our point.
I also took Notary2Pro in June of 2024. They have recently updated the program, and it’s better, but I haven’t been able to go through the entire updated version so I don’t know if it’s completely worth it. And completely agreed on the list, it was a disappointment to say the least.
Ugh so three years later and its still outdated information? I hope you say something because you paid for it. Can i ask what the fee is?
Hello
The fee is 300.00