Signing taking a long time

Today I did a loan & refi combo signing about 170 pages, 20 notary certificates, most had to have the venue corrected initialed & dated plus all the jurats needed some work on them because they lacked the CA disclaimer box (I have a stamp), and probably 60 signatures. It took almost 2 hours to get it done. I see some claiming they do 5 signings a day??? Is this normal??

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There are some Lender/TC combos that routinely have large pkgs w/20ish certs, and you have to enter the venue, the signerā€™s names, dateā€¦ a lot of work. And others that only require 2 or 3 with all info pre-printed, And MANY variations in between. When you learn who the labor-intensive ones areā€“charge more! You can cut down table time by completing all the corrections, fill in blanks, just donā€™t sign/stamp prior to appt. If youā€™re in a high population area, yes, 5/day is possible. Low population/ruralā€¦lucky if you average 1/day. ā€˜Normalā€™ does vary by area. Itā€™s a numbers game everywhere.

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Then donā€™t do business with them, if they donā€™t pay a decent amount, then working for them only encourages them to continue with their low-ball amounts. I initially accepted a few low ball amounts because I was just starting, but no more, it has to be a fair amount.

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in CA our requirement is a line per notarization per person. sometimes I have had 3 signers andover 10 notarizations per person. a lot of work. but I do take someat a lower fee if in my own city . if I have to travel I usually will state that is $X more for travel costs/time.

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and most of the time, if you donā€™t grab a signing right away you wonā€™t any in CA.

You can use Adobe to copy and paste the borrowers names into each Cert. as that is what usually consumes the most time as you are unfamiliar with the spelling of your clients namesā€¦ And yes by all means increase your fee accordingly, as professionals we should be paid over $50 per hour in my opinion.

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The competition is the reason why the pay is so low. Iā€™m lucky to get $100 from some of the signing companies that paid well in my home state.

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Just curious, aquicknoteā€¦what state were you in before and what state are you in now?

Iā€™ve been doing this for 28 years. You can write in a lot of the information before you go to the signing so all you have to do is stamp and sign.
That is normal to have packages that size
You donā€™t have to go in depth for many of this pages. Just a brief description is usually all that a borrower wants
And yes I regularly do 5 signings a day.
Preparation is key. If docs come late that changes it a bit but itā€™s best to fill in all the areas that need filling in ahead of time. Including forms that need filling out. Statement of information is one I usually fill out the basics, you can see their information from their 1003, loan application
Keeping chatting to a minimum is good too. Itā€™s easy to get sidetracked
Donā€™t get too involved. You are their to notarize docs. A borrower would normally get very upset if it takes that long as well.
Remember preparation is keyā€¦no signings should take more than an hourā€¦on very rare occasions if there are issues or you get the ā€œreadersā€ who read everything
After all these years I would say about 1% want to read everything
They want to know what is their payment and what are the fees. After than just a brief description
Most realize that the docs are generic docs in all mortgage packages and donā€™t really care.
I hope this helps. And it is possible to do 5 a day with good organization skills :purple_heart:

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No 2 hrs with ALL that work is Not Bad at Allā€¦and when Done you have to QA the Docs at the Table!! = more time!

Yes many folks are doing 3 - 5 Gigs /Day and Yes they prep and spend time lining them up & Many have been in the business for years, Not Allā€¦but they are in a high density city & some are also working Directly for Title and receiving a min of $150 /gig !!

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Oh and I forgotā€¦many Companies are Also Asking for Scanbacks after the Appt!! some want 3,5 pgs and some 10-20!! than go Drop Docs! Challenging!

Sounds good and Iā€™m somewhat familiar with your scenarioā€¦What about when How many signing Companies/Title want/ask for How many pgs Faxed/Scanned back Immediately after the Signing and than bug you asking for the shipping statusā€¦want DOCS shipped immediately also = more time!

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I do about 8 signings a day
If you want to message me privately you may. Iā€™ve been doing this for 29 years and can tell you some tricks of the trade. :slightly_smiling_face::slightly_smiling_face:

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Good for you! I can only handle between 4 to 6 a day max. After the 6th Iā€™m pooped. Itā€™s like Groundhog Day every day.

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6 is my max, 5 is often, 4 is usual, 3 if I have other appointments. 5 days a week, goal is 18 per week. My partner matches that.

All refi, buyers, sellers, or HELOCS.

Very rare for us to take a reverse (too much time for the money), an application, or a loan mod these days.

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Christine, it appears that you are on a roll doing 8 signing a day. I am new what advise can you share? I have the NNA certification. I am familiar with most of the loan document after been a Realtor for over 30 years.
Thank you.

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I highly agree with you! Organization skills is a must. Also, I make 1 copy of RTC for each signer, just in case they make mistakes. As soon as I come in the borrowerā€™s house, I give them their copy, do an oath, explain to them that there are some forms that I can legally explain to them (Deed of Trust, Note, First Payment Letter, and Closing disclosures), and the majorities are disclosures, that if they have any questions, they would have to call their lender or escrow for the answers. Then after that, all I have to do is keep on flipping the pages and point to them where to sign, sign with date, or initial. They usually donā€™t ask questions. I double check the docs and I tell them ā€œI will triple check the docs when I get to my office and I hope they donā€™t mind if I call them, if just in case I see any missing signatures, etc.ā€ I hope this helpsā€¦

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" As we review each document, I will describe to you the documentā€™s general purpose.", that implies all documents. from SPW Signing Presentation Guidelines. Was your training different than NNA?

2 hours is wayyy to long. Think about the clients sitting there. Could you focus on documents for 2 hours. After 30 minutes most people start to tune out
I am experienced but I have NEVER had a signing take two hours
More than an hour is pushing it.
Imagine going to a title company and having your signing take two hours.
It just would not happen so why should it happen with a mobile notary.
Also, if you take that longā€¦remember your time is moneyā€¦the longer it takes, the less money you earn in the long run. You are a BUSINESS. Take the fee, subtract out your fees, paper, toner, equipment, fuel, notary insurance, and of course taxes then see how much is left and divide it by the time you spent processing the documents, the time driving to location, the time at the location, the time dropping package and the time for all the correspondence time. You will see you are making very little when you take much longer than normal.
No signing should take more than an hour. There are of course exceptions but donā€™t overthink the documents. Give BRIEF overview of the documents. You donā€™t have to go in complete detail on the documents. That is not your job. You are there to help assist them in signing the documents. The documents people care about normally is the note, closing statement and the deed of trust/mortgage. After that there are just a plethora of disclosures that state the obvious and there are usually duplicates of the same form which add to the size.
I have been in the business for nearly 30 years. Operate as a business and remember that your time is money and the clients also donā€™t want to spend 2 hours of their time signing papers. It is exhausting for them already.
The MAJORITY of people are like this so remember that.

ALOHA

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