Hey all, what is realistic gross and net income from being a mobile signing agent? I live in a pretty rural area, about 50 miles outside of a large city that has many notaries. I have a full time work from home job that is flexible and pays well, so I have been content with picking up signings here and there when I can, and have made this my side hustle. I started about a year ago mostly with taking pictures for real estate and have “graduated” into financial work the past few months. My best month was in March where I grossed $1125 on 8 signings (averaging $140 per signing, average of 55 miles roundtrip including dropping the packet). Since it is a side hustle and is not needed to pay the bills, I do not leave the house for less than $100. I know I get outbid often as I try to get more in the $150+ range most of the time.
What have you all found is realistic earnings in a more rural setting doing this full time? Is 6 figures net realistic or not really? I don’t get offered enough jobs to make this a full time living where I live, although maybe that will come with time. I have been mostly utilizing Snapdocs and NotaryDash, and am now trying to find new places too (Old Republic, NotaryGo, Bancserv though I have to wait until July 1 to apply). What is your best advice to taking this from a part time side hustle to a full time gig, and how do you fill in your down time with other side hustles to provide for your family when signings are slow? Should I take lesser paying (say $80) jobs here and there just to gain more experience and keep growing my business?
2 Likes
I don”t know if what is realistic for one is realistic for others
My full time job went away with COVID. Last year I took early retirement because I wasn’t grossing enough to make it all work. I try to gross at least a grand a week. It’s the 9th I’m ahead of that for April. But if I have a grand coming in weekly I do okay. The hardest part is car maintenance because I’m in rural Eastern Washington where everywhere is a drive. If you are getting at least 100 don’t reduce that for experience. sign with jot is First American excellent platform pays weekly.
I’m not going to get rich. But I can pay my bills and take a vacation once in a while. Life is what happens while we plan our lives. It’s been a terrible decade. Hopefully things will smooth out.
The biggest thing is - it’s about YOU not what other people think about what you should do. But if you are a single income - I’d keep my day job.
5 Likes
Very helpful, thank you. I see you posting on here all the time and know you are hustling. Thank you for posting realistic numbers… that helps set expectations for me in the future. I see this work as a good side hustle for me, perhaps a bit more regular once I step away from my 9-5 some day
No, 6 figures is not realistic at all for a rural notary. Sloppy math says @ $140, you’d have to do 2/per day, 364 days/yr…and you already know that’s not going to happen. The higher fees are for more travel; the more you travel, the fewer you can do in a day, with more wear/maintenance on your car. Johnsonps306 pretty well nailed it…and that lady really hustles.
2 Likes
No way to tell with how volatile the market is. 1st half of the month i aim for 1-1.5k per week. 2nd half 1.5-2.5k per week
1 Like
How has jot been for you lately? This year it has been crickets for me from them in Oregon.
There are some escrow officers who like me and I get their orders a lot. I get a lot if the seller docs for mobile homes because I get those state licensing documents right. I charge more than some of the area notaries. Sometimes they call favored notaries and the orders don’t go on blast. Weirdly I got one through a signing service where the title office was out of state so a signing service grabbed the order and subcontracted it to me and they get paid next week I will probable have to wait 4-5 weeks. So I sent the title officer a fees page and told her to hire me via jot for Eastern WA. I was a featured notary in their newsletter late last year I got a ton of offers after that.
I love this! Through Jot, I’ve been called specifically for mobile homes also but it’s been so quiet lately, hoping things pick up soon!
Well, Matt, if you don’t need the money, for example, “The promise of 6 figures”, why do you care? Unless you’re getting a full fee, you are paying a middleman too much for the assignments. The activity is fun, but it gets you away from the house where you are making real money.
1 Like
Y’all might keep in mind that business tends to slow down the two weeks before tax time (April 15th). Springtime usually perks up as it’s the “buying season” as my realtor friends tell me.
Anyway, anyone (including, and, most of all, me) who predicts this market for notary work is a charlatan. There is no predicting anything. It changes with politics (Iran “conflict”), COVID19, (economy) Fed rates falling or rising, and who won the Super Bowl or the knuckleheads on late night TV.
See what I mean? 
3 Likes
Yeah, and I would love to see the mathematical equation that illustrates a six figure annual gross on the pickings we choose from as LSAs.
Hey Joe thanks for the reply. I’m wondering if it can replace my FT job at some point. I have a good and flexible job but I really do enjoy being on the road and doing this more than my 9-5. No idea what full time folks make or what is realistic if you really ramp this thing up which is what I am trying to get a feel for
Helpful. I feel like I have relatively slim pickings. I can do 5-10 at the most every month right now for 125+, but could probably fill my days chasing $50 signings and not make much of anything. I was wondering if I would have access to more signings for higher amounts the longer that I do this, but what I am hearing is “slim pickings is a way of life” for us 
I’d expand on your last sentence. If you have to rely on income from this work to pay your rent and feed your family, I’d think twice. It’s a great gig if you have another income source, but not if you’re solely dependent on your income from notary work/loan signings.
1 Like
The only way I can see a six figure (net) income happening doing loan signings is if you sit in one office all day long and do one signing after the other, with no travel or printing involved. That is, unless you like working 18 hours a day. That equation could change if we were paid like plumbers, but we’re not.
That’s what I was looking for. Well, not necessarily hoping to hear but I appreciate the realistic feedback, thank you!
Steves11 has succinctly concluded what the more experienced notaries know; it’s quite difficult to nearly impossible to make one’s sole source of income from the notary business and stay alive. It’s not that hard to compute for yourself.
Take your average fee, multiply it by whatever generous factor you choose, take 60% of the product (the answer from your multiplication), subtract taxes, expenses and miscellaneous costs and VOILA! You have a number. If you can make it on that number, congratulations. If you can’t, welcome to the notarial crowd. Have a seat at the bar.
1 Like
Thanks for the feedback Bobby
Some people may have a different take on what I said, but in 11 years in this business, it’s what I’ve found to be true. It will certainly help if you can get involved with title companies that will pay you full fee, or at least close to it. They may be few and far between now. They see what the signing services take off the top and think that they can get away with doing the same thing.
2 Likes
This can be accomplished by a Remote online notary with 9 to 10 hours 5 days a week. No week end or driving..
