I am signing up with a signing company and they asked me if I had a title company or attorneys office that I use for singings. I know this helps with cash outs and it will probably help with more business. How did you guys go about getting connected with a title company or attorney, what’s the best way to approach them?
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This is a Texas phenomenon. You might hear these called “cash outs”.
I’m lucky that I have a longtime friend who is a real estate attorney. He lets me use his office for those kinds of closings. The attorney doesn’t have to be a real estate attorney. They could be any kind of attorney, as long as he/she is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas.
It takes time to build relationships, and anyone who tells you anything differently is lying to you. My recommendation is to start with people you already know. Do any of them practice law? Do you know them well enough to ask for a favor? If they would agree to allow you to conduct signings in their office, what would they charge for a room rental fee? You need to include that room rental fee in your signing fee, as it is a real cost to you. Remember, you’re in this to make money, not lose money just to get work.
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Thanks Sue, I do know a divorce attorney. I just thought they had to in real estate. I will get to networking.
Thanks
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I’ve been reading a lot about this Texas thing with cash out… I don’t quite understand, but as per what I have read so far is complicated. Luckily I’m in Jersey and we don’t that, not yet 
Question, this attorney’s office or real estate, is only for cash out ?
It’s a Texas Constitution thing. Texas goes above and beyond to make sure that homeowners are able to hang on to their properties, even after they take out loans against their equity. The lawyer I use gives a 3-minute history lesson to the borrowers prior to the signing ceremony, just so they understand why these kind of refinance loans must be done in a title office, lawyer’s office, or at a bank. The third option, the bank, is never mentioned as a location to cash out, because it is really uncommon for a bank to allow another lending institution’s closing to take place in their office.
There’s a document that’s found in these packages called “Notice of Right to Rescind”, and the borrowers have to execute the document on the acknowledgement line the day of the closing. They are given a copy of the executed document with instructions to sign the accompanying document, called something like “Notice of Right to Not Rescind”, the day after the recession period ends, and fax it to their lender. All of this is outlined in the Texas Real Estate Code and Sec. 50, Article XVI of the Texas Constitution.
Disclosure: I am NOT an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and I do not give legal advice or collect fees for giving legal advice.
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I am new to this but I think it is a Texas thing. But I think it’s also good to have that connection to an attorney. They may get busy with other things and need you for possible GNW and I’m not opposed to that.
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Meaning is only for cashout or home equity loans? Am I right?
Yes, exactly.
What’s really frustrating is that some of the signing services send out an $85 bid for a Refi , some poor notary snags it, and then they find out the hard way that it’s one of THOSE kinds of refinance. That won’t even cover a room rental fee in Downtown Austin.
Be ready with a cash out location in the event you get one of these. Not many notaries have a cash out location, and I’ve gotten 4 of these simply because someone else couldn’t handle it. One signing service has me on speed dial for these kinds of closing, because they told me that I’m a bit of a unicorn.
That sounds complicated 
HELOCS are easy, but this thing in Texas looks awkward, especially the low fee involved… very insulting!
I get $200 for those kinds of signings, and that’s because those kinds of signings are complicated, and because I have a room rental fee. The only way you’re going to get experience is to do one.
That’s part of my beef with the NNA training. It’s a generalization, and not state-specific. I’d never heard of these “cash outs” before I got a call about one. It would have been nice to know that something like this exists, ya know.
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Is it similar or the same as HELOCS?
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I’ve never gotten a straight answer on that. I just call them HELOCs, because I don’t know what else to call it. “Cash Out Refinance” was not discussed in training.
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Exactly!!! and HELOCS are very simple!
Not just HELOC but also reverse mortgages have to be signed at a bank, attorney or title company office here in Texas. When you say “cash out” are you referring to a reverse mortgage?
So happy to see you point this out, Sue; you are so right and this is a great heads-up to anyone considering training…another thing they do not pay any attention to is those states that are attorney-only states - they’ll certify you no matter where you are…even if you can’t do closings in that state. smh
Again, thank you.
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I am in Texas, I have done several Reverse Mortgages and to my knowledge these DO NOT have to be done at a bank, title or attorney.
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There are a couple of really good NSA trainings available in Texas. I have not been able to attend any meetings since Covid. Carol Ray who owns Notary2Pro (general NSA trainings with mentoring) will provide you with some great state specific training specialist for Texas (and she, Carol, is moving to Texas 
this month). There are also a few NSA Facebook trainers who will answer questions that are located in Texas. I hope this helps. I am almost 2 years old… learned a lot of things the hard way, until Notary2Pro training/mentoring just in the past 4 months. I hope this helps.
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thanks I guess I need to head over to Notary2pro to get some state specific training.
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Yes to Notary2Pro. Read that sentence again. Yes to Notary2Pro.
Rather than asking what the Title company can do for you, how about approaching them with what you can do for them. Introduce yourself and let them know when they need a hand you are willing to jump in. They may need a loan signed after hours, etc. Help them.
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Some total refinances, “refis” are case out. So are some 2nd mortgages as well as reverse mortgages. The HELOC is a Home Equity Line of Credit. You may want to talk to a loan officer to find out the difference. We used to call that “take you lender to lunch” class. Even though you cannot give any advice or legal advice or really answer questions, it helps to know.