Some questions before I get started

Beginner's Questions
1

I am a new NSA, although I have been a notary for 10 years at the company where I am still employed full-time. I would like to do NSA work to supplement either part-time or retirement income – I figure I could do a dozen signings a week and make close to what I make at my job full-time. It feels like a good fit for me, as I am detail-oriented person, I like people and get along well with them, I am very organized, and I can follow directions.

So far, I have taken the NSA course through NNA. I have purchased an Epson ES-400 scanner, a case of letter-size copy paper, a ream of legal-size copy paper, a Brother HLL5200DW printer, and all of the office supplies I will need. I have signed up with Notary Café and have been perusing all of the pertinent information I can absorb, and I am getting multiple texts every day with potential signings. But I am afraid to take them because of the questions raised for me through my extensive reading of posts.

My biggest holdup is about the printing of documents. I have a Macbook Air, and I understand this may be a problem with the Brother printer, which is a single-tray printer, but has a manual feed tray at the top. I am afraid to accept a job because, if I get documents two hours ahead of the appointment and have trouble printing them, I have at best a ton of stress, and at worst a cancelled appointment. But I have no way to try this out without accepting an assignment. My questions arising from this are:

  • Are there ALWAYS problems with Macs and Brother working together to print documents (I have Adobe reader and am able to print other pdfs easily.)

  • Do most of the loan documents come with both legal and letter-sized pages?

  • Can a single tray printer with the manual feed tray work at all, or should I get a dual-tray printer and sell the one I have?

  • Should I invest in a PC right from the outset?

Other questions I have:

  • Are edocs simply documents that are received electronically and printed by the NSA?

  • What are the best types of closings to start out with – refis, HELOCS, VA closings, etc?

  • What types of closings , if any, are best for a newbie to stay away from, and why?

  • I also assume that simply replying that I am available for a closing does not guarantee that I get the closing. Is that correct? Does Signing Closers, for instance, send a mass email to many NSAs and then pick from the most experienced or the ones who are charging the least, or how does that work?

Thank you so much in advance for any feedback you have. I’d really like to get started!

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2

I would buy a 2nd printer with a dual tray. You can find one for about $200 on Ebay. Make sure it’s Laserjet – not deskjet - not office jet. I think having a reliable dual tray printer is the most important thing. but in the meanwhile you can go to Notary Rotary and use their page separator to separate legal and letter. Out of 100 loan docs – maybe 15 will be all letter and another 15 will be 50%letter /50% legal – and 70% of them will has about 15-20% of the pages as legal.

generally, if you are willing to work for $80 – you’ll get the job. most of the seasoned notaries will not take jobs under $120

3

I have a macbook air… it does not play well with Adobe. But i love my macbook. If you’re tech savvy, I think you can make it work.

4

As someone with prior notary experience your computer/printer set up is your only real problem here. I did not do any signings until I had my printer set up correctly. My biggest investments were in my Brother MFC that has a scanner bed an 75 page document feeder. It came with 1 tray and I bought the second one separately. Also bought a laptop that I felt was capable of handling all of my needs. I had no prior experience as a notary but felt confident to jump in there with the proper tools.

5

First, you don’t say where you are - very important info for us to help answer…but…Okay…here goes…LOL

Are there ALWAYS problems with Macs and Brother working together to print documents (I have Adobe reader and am able to print other pdfs easily.) Do a search here for your Mac - there’s a recent thread about this and someone had a solution.

  • Do most of the loan documents come with both legal and letter-sized pages? In my experience, yes. And one ream of legal paper isn’t going to get you far - you need more.

Can a single tray printer with the manual feed tray work at all, or should I get a dual-tray printer and sell the one I have? You can make a single tray work if you get page separator or use the one on NotRot - or, print on all legal - costs you a few pennies more but lessens the headaches.

Should I invest in a PC right from the outset? That’s up to you and your wallet. Considering what I’ve read about problems with Macs, I probably would buy one - but I"m impatient that way

Are edocs simply documents that are received electronically and printed by the NSA? Yes

What are the best types of closings to start out with – refis, HELOCS, VA closings, etc? Six of one, half a dozen with the other. IOW, it doesn’t matter, docs are docs - some packages are larger, some are smaller, but boilerplate docs are all the same. The only one that may be outrageously different is a reverse mortgage…and even then it’s not that bad.

What types of closings , if any, are best for a newbie to stay away from, and why? None, really But DO stay away from debt relief signings…most of them are scams and are illegal in many states.

I also assume that simply replying that I am available for a closing does not guarantee that I get the closing. Is that correct? Does Signing Closers, for instance, send a mass email to many NSAs and then pick from the most experienced or the ones who are charging the least, or how does that work? Will defer to other notaries here as I’ve been out of the loan signing loop for a bit - although I’ve kept up with the industry I’m not privvy to how companies work - from what I read it’s blast texting and emailing…but again, I defer.

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Thank you so much for your feedback. I am in Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania, by the way.

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