(AZ) Today for me was my day of marketing and research. With all this talk about how much you can earn in this businesses I decided to do some research on salaries and price points. So in my area this is what I found. You can use the link below to search your individual area. Again this is an average only and YES as we have seen time and time again we have above average LSA on this platform that do way more than the average. For those of you just starting out or thinking about starting… temper your expectations as I dont see that 6 figure number in any state.
As of May 25, 2022, the average annual pay for a Loan Signing Agent in Arizona is $50,843 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $24.44 an hour. This is the equivalent of $978/week or $4,237/month.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $90,127 and as low as $18,583, the majority of Loan Signing Agent salaries currently range between $27,874 (25th percentile) to $56,677 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $84,551 annually in Arizona.
The average pay range for a Loan Signing Agent varies greatly (as much as $28,803), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
Now with me being a finace person I did the math based on what my average signing bottom line was. I found for me… print, prep, travel (×2),sign, scan and FedEx drop … minus expenses I net $30-$40/hr. So if i wonder if I price my services correctly in line with the area prices I no longer have to wonder as the data speaks for itself.
Thank you for that…yes I guesstimated 12% Fed and 3% State taxes. (I’m not a CPA so I just guessed) The only thing I did not factor in the self employment tax so far because of the notarial acts I have calculated as per my Notary Gadget is showing 0.
I use this also to track a certain percentage of my other expenses associated with my home office and other business-related expenses… (I have OCD on this). So I should be pretty close when it comes to tax time.
How I arrive at this number?
1- I looked at the net income that I track meticulously in Notary Gadget for the first quarter of 2022
2- I divided it by the total number of signings that I completed
3- I then divided it by the average time it takes me to complete each signing.
Then I went back and did the same for each month which gave me a range.
Good info and resource here. Let’s not forget to keep in mind the hours “worked” to achieve any given salary is the prime focus. For example, let’s go with the top earner in AZ making $84,551 annually. That’s $7,046 per month. $44.00 per hour, at “40 hours per week”. Now if someone in AZ is working 60 hours per week to make the same $84,551, the notary working 40 hours per week is making more money!
I don’t know about you but I did not get into this business to work 40 hours per week. The max amount of signings that I will do in one day is 3 maybe 4 if they are quick ones.
Just painting the picture by adding in a missing factor. For example (and I’m being generous in my numbers here):
4 signings per week at $200 each, is 800 per week, $3,200 per month, $38,400 per year. Works out to $20 per hour (based on a 40 hour week). Now obviously not all assignments require the same time investment, they are all different (from the time you accept the job to the time you send the docs back, and everything required in between). This means we don’t get paid by the hour, we get paid by the job, which also means your hourly rate will change on a weekly basis (based on the “common” 40 hour work week as the standard).
My point was one needs to factor in the hours they actually worked in order to determine how much they “really” made. Simply adding up the total of all the assignments one did at the end of the year alone doesn’t dictate what one “actually” made. Our time invested is no different than any other expense we incur on a transaction. Time is money, whether coming in or going out.
For that “six figure’s?” That’s 500 signings per year at $200 a piece (gross) to get $100k. Nobody talks about the hours to achieve that.
One of the things I find funny is that we as business owners factor travel time to and from the appointment… yes time is money I get it. But when you calculate your pay when you are a W-2 employee the drive time to and from your “JOB” no travel time is calculated… IJS
(CA) I only wish I was busy enough to put in a 40 hour week. I’m doing OK but I’d be happier with more assignments. GNW is picking up but it’s hit-or-miss. I knew going in that my work hours and earnings would be wobbly at best. I learned when I joined this forum how many people thought they would earn a lot as a notary and thus, quit their jobs. I don’t feel bad for them, though. It is what it is and if they didn’t do the research necessary to make a successful and worthwhile career change[!], this is the price they pay.
It seems many people thought they would like to be independent contractors but they had no idea how to do it. Else, why would they complain or be so disillusioned? Entrepreneurs know that things can change very quickly in business and the good ones prepare accordingly. When I started my two businesses, I did a TON of homework prior to venturing out on my own. I did the best thing I could do – I wrote and followed my business plan. I did the same before becoming a notary. I wonder how many new notaries actually wrote a business plan; probably zero (save one or two of my learned pals on this site ).
Well said. I just think when we see those posting about their earnings, there’s never any talk of of how much time they actually invested in earning that money. It’s not about how many hours one “wants” to work in this business (after all, who “wants” to work a lot), my point is, if they crunched their worked hours in a long with the rest of their numbers, they may be surprised as to how much they are really making.
I’m not an hourly employee, I don’t concern myself with the metric of $/hour. If I make $150k efficiently, or not efficiently, I still deposited the same amount of money. If I did it inefficiently, my businesses wouldn’t grow and my wife would divorce me. So easy motivation to be efficient.
The main business owner metrics I care about are gross income, net income, comp sales monthly/yearly, salaries and contract labor %ages.
The prior article posted about a minimum of 3 hours per signing does not apply to me. My appts themselves are 20-40 mins, most times I’m dropping docs back at the offices around me on my way home or sometimes a fedex, always on my route.
As far as my time, my concern is proficiency.
So M-F from around 9ish to 6ish(when the kids get home from daycare), I’m trying to extract as much value as I can in that time frame.
My signing appts, marketing for the businesses, relationship building, posting on social, accounting, etc.
I am constantly (and probably naively) amazed when I read that signing appointments are “20-40 minutes”. Maybe 3 hours [devoted] to a signing is a bit long, but the opposite seems a bit, well, I’ll say difficult to achieve [routinely].
Regardless of how one calculates their ‘profitability’ or using whatever other measures of success one may choose, efficiency remains, in my mind, the absolute marker in the equation. There’s something you’re not telling us when you describe your performance proficiencies. I’ve been in productivity analysis for too long not to see that. But, no worries, if I had the keys to the kingdom, I wouldn’t tell either. But neither would I let on that I even had those keys. No, something doesn’t add up, here. Nevertheless, I respect and admire your achievement and you give me something to both research and shoot for.
I get it … work smarter not harder… make the most out of every hour of the day and be productive while doing so. It’s hard to measure in dollars what the days ROI will give you when you spend part of the day marketing and part of the day signing. It’s all about using the hours in the day to either make money now or make money later…at least in my simple mind that’s how I look at it.
The only reason I shared this is that I find based on various post that people are trying to compare apples to pineapples…. You cannot … IMO of course.
I thought I was clear. Forgive me, as apparently I was not. I am not clear myself on how one accomplishes a routine refi or similar signing in 20-40 minutes. Can it be done? Sure, even often. But I’m skeptical of your numbers and suspect that what you’re telling us is that you run a signing service (didn’t I see that recently?) and that you take the short/easy/whatever assignments, bang 'em out in 20 and drop on the way home. I’m not accusing you of [purposely] hiding anything, but at the same time, you’re not revealing (semantics?) how this can be accomplished either.
Look, everybody’s got their edge; you’ve got yours and I’ve got a couple, too. The movie may look good, buy I’m not buying a ticket. Golly, I hope you make lots of money and not have to work too hard for it. Somebody’s gotta, after all.
20-40 mins is skill, period.
Do 1600 closings you should be very efficient and know the docs like the back of your hand. Most of my closings, 90% are sellers, buyers or both. Remember all my closings are direct, so I see the same title and loan docs over and over again.
Mobile office, car that drives itself, electronic journal, etc.
I do about 70 a month personally and take all the buyer/sellers I can get so I can invoice $250.
My SS last month did 163 appts, but my scheduler runs that for me. I’m the marketing for both businesses.
Just a side question/statement… can i assume you just print and go at this point. I find that it still gives me comfort to prep my packages and flag areas that they need to sign… even when i am familiar with the docs. My mind works on a process and i am so afraid of deviation because it works.
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