Signing w 2 hour round trip

Hi everyone, hope your all getting plenty of good paying assignments!

When I receive a request for an assignment 1 to 2 hours away I cringe :grimacing:. Now I get these requests and the pay out is a crumb of $75-$100. I donā€™t think these signing companies are taking into good consideration with the cost to drive there spend 1-2 hours with signer and drive back! Iā€™m worth more than $75-$100 on a long distance drive and not to mention last minute requests with scan backs are also extra in my business! Iā€™m not an employee I am an independent contractor not a w2 employee. What these loan signing companies donā€™t take into account is we are doing a long distance assignment which may take 3-5 hours total with driving time when I can accept $100 assignments within 15-20 minute radius. Not only am I saving time and gas, but less is more sometimes in a 5-10 mile radius. How do you all charge and handle these low ball, long distance assignment requests?

I agree. I get those last minute 2 hour notice and they are Refis which is a lot of printing, then the assignment is 30 min away and they want fax back immediately. I usually get an offer of $100. Sometimes $175. But I donā€™t like that emergency drama in 2 hours. Those usually make me pause and its usually from a title company I havenā€™t heard of. So I donā€™t have time to research them and do my my due diligence. Not comfortable working like that.

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Here is my approach. Iā€™m bold about the terms that I require. First, my fee is due in-full regardless of the signerā€™s decision to sign or not sign and regardless of the loan funding or not funding. Once I have printed the docs the full fee is due and the Ttile/SS has to agree to that before any further terms and conditions are negotiated.

Next, they have to pay for my drive time and mileage round trip. Please read ā€˜time and mileageā€™. My car has costs and I have costs. They have to pay the carā€™s costs and the have to pay me to drive my car.

Lastly, they have to pay my full fee for the assignment, not their fee but my fee. Bloated packages have higher fees.

Scanbacks have additional fees. Places like the UPS Store or Staples charge $3 for the first scanned page and $2 for each additional page. Figure that cost on 200 pages and then decide if $50 is a bargain for your scanback fee.

So, you may be wondering if that ever works. Yes, it does and Iā€™ve done a number of these jobs. The highest paid me $1,300. You see, when I presented the docs to the borrowers they said the numbers were wrong and they were not going to sign. I was paid $650 for the first trip and $650 to go back when the numbers were corrected.

The second job paid $1,100. Again the signersā€™ refused to sign on the first appointment. I was paid for the first trip and second trip.

Right now, Iā€™m in the middle of a 3 part assignment. On the first trip, Title neglected to list 1 of the 4 owners on the documents. On the second trip, that 4th signerā€™s name was spelled wrong and she was listed as a Jr. Now Iā€™m waiting for corrected docs to go for the 3rd time. Each time Iā€™m being paid in full.

Finally, letā€™s talk about your concern on due diligence. There is always time to check out the company. It can be done as soon as you hang up and while you are waiting for the docs. When an issue(s) is discovered, like late/slow payment, I call them right back and explain my concern(s). Then, I ask if they will pay me in advance, or list my name and fee on the Settlement Statement , or if they want to reassign the job to another notary.

So you may be wondering if they ever pay in advance? Well, yes they have.

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I always decline and then when it comes to the why, I choose distance and then tell them how much it will cost. I never drive over an hour for less that $200. If they say yes I go. If not I move on. You have to be willing to walk away or you will find yourself stuck getting underpaid. You will learn saying no will work in your favor.

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I still receive $75 offers for refinance with full scanbaksā€¦ my answer is still the same $150+
Two days ago some company offered me $75 for refinance, like 15 minutes from home. The irony of this is like 2 hours ago or so same company sent me another text asking if Iā€™m availableā€¦ I guess they still havenā€™t found anyone willing to do their $75 bucks refinance
I might be newbie, but no signing agencies foul!
I started working with new companies, and while I build trust and experience with them, theyā€™re offering $100 upā€¦ stick to your word and keep rejecting, my advice to you :wink:

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I really like your terms. Are your fees and requirements with C2C and other loan signing companies? Iā€™m going to reevaluate my terms and fees and what asking for. Iā€™m going to sit down and rewrite my fees. Thank you so much for the input.

Thank you, Iā€™ve said no many times in these last two weeks. Iā€™m new at this and only been doing loan signing for 3 weeks now. My going rate is a base of 150-300 depending on the loan.

Im pretty new at this also. Iā€™m going to start adding mileage, scanbacks and last minute notice along with extra for copy for borrowers.

Hi swnotaryvet, are you charging per mileage and per hour to an assignment more than 1 hour away?

My advice? Donā€™t accept ANY signing where you have not negotiated your fee up front. If you donā€™t receive enough info up front about the signing - donā€™t accept the assignment. Itā€™s too late to go back and ask for more after accepting.

Unfortunately, through experience Iā€™ve taken the view that the possibility of these signing companies to try to take advantage of you, always exists.

Hereā€™s what I do. First, when a low low ball offer comes my way, I turn it down. Always. I donā€™t negotiate - not then. My signing fee for my local area is clearly listed. It begins at $125 and goes up depending on how far I have to travel for the signing. It also increases with the number of signers, pages, scanbacks required (if any). I ask questions - ALWAYS. I donā€™t assume anything - except that somebody somewhere is trying to depress signing fees as much as possible so that they can pocket as much of the ā€œnotary feesā€ as possible. Take a look at your document pkg. Notary fees are listed on one if not all disclosure docs. The number i see most often is $375 - 500. Every once in a while itā€™s higher and sometimes lower, but not by much.

When is the last time YOU collected even $175 for a normal refi?

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$175 is just a base fee for a loan in my town not including mileage and distance to travel along with other fees. If the loan is more than an hour away I charge extra fir that.

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Ms Clark the Schuduling Agencies are just fishing, just donā€™t bite! It simply comes down to you knowing your worth and only accepting signing that pay your worth and make.money for your business. I know its frustrating. Just Saying!

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Hello Everyone
1st of all why are you spending 1-2 with the signers?? A signing should only take 30 minutes at best.

Love your savage ways!! I suck, like absolutely suck, at any kind of confrontation- no matter how intense or mild it is. Mad respect for you and how you handle your signings/fees

The 1-2 hours is driving time not loan signing time. But yeah there are times when you run into a situation at the table and the numbers donā€™t match with what the borrowers agreed on.

Yes I understand that. You do 1 hour or 2hour drive// I want go no further than 35 minutes. It all depends on where you live,

Iā€™ve also been only accepting signings within my city. Long distance more than 1 hour one way are not paying enough for traveling there and back.

Please donā€™t accept this type of assignment unless you feel you are being properly compensated. The rate is not only too low its pretty much insulting. Letā€™s say you accept it for $100, they donā€™t get you the docs until 2 hrs prior to the signing, 15 mins to print two sets of docs, 2 hrs to drive there, call it 45 min signing and 2 hrs back. More than likely you have to provide Faxbacks which is another 15 mins. The result, (1) signing for $100.00 has cost you 6 hrs time to complete. Heaven forbid you missed a signature, date, initial or notarization and have to go back for a non compensated correction, then itā€™s an additional 2 hrs there and 2 hrs back. Listen, all signing assignments arenā€™t created equal, and they arenā€™t worth accepting. Try to make the best decision for you when accepting signings.

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^^^ What he said ***

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