I am extremely committed to making this business to work, I have marketed and signed up with several signing services (30 so far). I put my phone on loud notifications within a minute I respond as “available”. But some how I don’t ever get the order? any suggestions or anyone going through the same issues?
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Welcome to the Notary Family… personally when I started I signed up with probably 200 plus companies. For the most part even though I signed up with that many companies I only get regular work from about 5 consistently.
You can search for additional companies good and bad using the search features as shown below.
Try searching BEST SIGNING COMPANIES”
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(CA) Sorry, kid, one minute is 59.49838 seconds too long. You’ll learn this as you transition from “newbie” status to a more experienced status. That’s not an insult or affront of any kind; it’s just the way it is and was for all of us.
Grab your orders as quickly as you can. With the competition and the way the signing services are operating (not all of them, by the way - I have my favorites who treat me right but I won’t divulge who they are to protect my trade secret), you’ll need to learn how to move fast. Check out this forum for ideas. Use the invisible magnifying glass in the brown header above and put in some key words.
I wish you the very best.
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Thanks Donald and and Bobby! Definitely a learning process and will continue to try
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Hang tight. I just got my first order from an out of state title company in Virginia. I’ve been a NSA since February 2022. Be patient.
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I try to answer every text with a response whether I am interested or not. Snapdocs records the responses so if you get a text, answer it even though you arent unterested
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@raquelprimonotary not to be all doom and gloom, but my advice is before you sink a lot of money and time into this, I would strongly suggest you read through the forum on this site - read where people are posting they are at 25-35% volume of work compared to last year, or the year before. There is an abundance of notaries everywhere and that, along with RON getting stronger and stronger, you may find yourself looking elsewhere.
I hope you didn’t give up a good day job for this. It’s very cyclical and unpredictable. It’s great being your own boss…but breaking into this business is really tough right now - despite the promises of many of the training programs.
Best of luck to you
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Maybe others may want to chime in here, but although Snapdocs records response rates, it has no bearing on whether you get the job or not. If a job is available for zip code 12345, everyone serving that zip code will get notified that the job is available. Like most, they either assign to the one excepting their initial fee, or if in a pinch, the first to accept (which is usually the one excepting the initial fee). If they raise the rate on a second notification for the same job, it just means no one “bit” on the first offer. Basically, don’t let their “response rate” discourage you. Not everyone is staring at their phone constantly worried about their response rate with Snapdocs, and they know that.
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(CA) Snapdocs, sigh. . .Understood. But why then, with an error-free record (well, almost), reasonable fee demands, availability, excellent skills, strong resume, nice pens and clean fingernails, have I never gotten an order notification from Snapdocs?
I don’t expect you to answer. 
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Oops, so that’s my problem……
Well, the contract agreements didn’t mention anything about nice pens and clean fingernails!
They know that they cannot afford you and don’t want to be rejected by you 
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@LindaH-FL Concur 
percent! It’s been QUITE CHALLENGING for anyone starting out in this business for at least a year and a half . . . As you’ve noted, a brief review of the threads on the Notary Cafe forums will clearly and unrefutably elucidate the facts of the matter.
There may be a few VERY ISOLATED pocket regions in the United States that continue with a high volume of orders; however, MOST regions within the US are seeing a DRAMATIC REDUCTION in volume down to about 25-35% of their customary work volume (as you’ve also noted). 
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I am also a rather new LSA and Notary Public in Texas. When I upgraded my E&O Insurance from $25,000 to $100,000 in March, I got my first signing the very next day. I finally started receiving offers from there on out. From what I’m noticing, having at least $100k E&O is the expectation, not a recommendation.
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So true. This is why I don’t “boast” about my workload (it’s all here say anyway). The true numbers as a whole are out there for everyone to see (not top secret info). Everyone’s definition of “busy” is all different. Me? I simply made less income last month than the month prior…and the trend continues!
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Like you I’m also in Texas working in the Hill Country between San Antonio and Austin. Signings are down due to rising interest rates and property values. Comal, Guadalupe, and Hays Counties have see property valuations rise by as much as 50%. These conditions have squelched the Refi market. The shortage of homes and supply chain problems have slowed new home purchases. Stir in to the mix that many market analyst are clamoring that a recession is on the horizon and consumers are starting to get spooked.
I have about 160 Signing Services, Title Companies, Law Firms, and specialty lenders in my basket. The demand for services ia about 20% of where things were 18 months ago. Most of my Notary activities is coming from Law Firms and specialty lenders.
I’m not trying to discourage you, I’m hoping to give a reality check. There is work out there, it’ll take a lot more effort find those opportunities. Be patient, things will turn around for all of us.
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It is tough at first but make sure you introduce yourself to your local title companies and lawyers and when you do start to get these signing do your best to cross every T and dot every I so that the companies that do give u a shot will be comfortable enough to start using you more and more good luck
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This has been my worse month in 7 years or more. Refinances are down and the builder that I did 150 closing for last year won’t have properties available until 2023. I am curious, what do you mean by specialty lenders? Also, why types of attorneys do you market to. I have relied on loan signing and need to market to other types of businesses.
Refis and Builder closings are at a slow creep. Specialty lenders is what I call Commercial lenders, Venture Capital, and Tax Loans. I didn’t market to any of these folks. Either they called me or I knew someone on the inside. Both Commercial and Venture lending is slowing down. There is activity converting construction loans to conventional loans. These have been in the pipeline for sometime. I’m expecting these to also slow down.
Most of the Law Firms I work for also reached out to me several years ago, so I have an established relationship with them. I didn’t market to them as well. Most of these law firms handle family and estate matters. There are a few that work civil liability, such as accidents, workman’s comp, negligence type cases. This is mostly interrogatories, depositions, injury cases, etc… There’s also evidence handling, maintaining chain of custody. This doesn’t always mean I’m notarizing, sometimes I’m making certain law offices and courts get documents and evidence. Sometimes civil lawsuits go up when the economy goes down. I would start contacting paralegal providers and law firms in your area.
What we’ve experienced over the last 2.5 years has been a anomaly, not the norm. There were some trainers that over sold the business, and to some extent still are, without alerting their students to the cyclical nature of the economy.
My deeper concern are economist no longer saying we might be heading for a recession, rather they’re saying we will be in a recession. Unfortunately, no one can predict when, how deep, and for how long it will last. My guess is, if a recession develops there will be those with out jobs looking become an NSAs to replace lost income. All this will do is further tilt the supply/demand curve driving down signing fees lower than they already are. I’ll offer a wild guess here, I don’t expect things to return to pre-2018 Real Estate volumes until sometime in 2024 at the earliest. In general, I hope my prediction is wrong.
Knowing that the last 2.5 years wouldn’t last forever, I started a second business last year to make up for the eventual decline. I would encourage my colleagues to find a second stream of income that will meet their financial needs until the NSA business resumes to normal.
Best Wishes
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Unfortunately, many of us are in the same boat. First the refinance rate is over 5% I think. This makes the pool of signings very low. Second there are more agents in the pool ready to take and order. Many with more experience than you. Try taking some low ball signings to get your feet wet.
I appreciate everyone responding to this question. It seems I have a lot of work to do on my part.
I know someone mentioned that I might get more signings if I up my E&O to 100K today I called and it turns out its $205 to increase it. I have invested a substantial amount of money already SO I am conflicted on what to do.
I keep responding to each text and email as available as fast as I humanly can but no luck. I will have to save some $$ to increase that E&O.