I’m starting to get some offers from signing services but do not want to accept low ball offers as I know now that it hurts our industry. can someone please help to advise? What is the acceptable fee for a Refinance? $30 to $50 range ? or more?
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$125 base plus extra for travel, scanbacks. At $50, you’re paying them to work. Please do some math.
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Please don’t be mean, I’m trying, I’m fairly new to this. I’m a newer notary and us newer notaries have been use to seeing these lowball offers, I believe we should all band together to help stop perpetuating and diluting the industry by accepting these low offers. So if we know what the standard fee is for certain loan packages we can negotiate better terms with these agencies. I want to help to get things back on track that’s why I’m asking. We don’t know how to do better until we know better. Again, thank you for your response. This helps.
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@trsss Please know without a Shadow of any Doubt that @Arichter definitively hasn’t expressed something ill-intentioned/mean . . .
As I have spoken elsewhere within the Notary Cafe forum threads, this is the unadulterated truth . . . that is being shared with you from me & the other sages on the forum.
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The query you’ve posed varies from region-to-region and from state-to-state quite widely.
Unfortunately, there is no One-Price-Fits-All because of the variances in Cost of Living across the US . . .
So, essentially she gave you a general guideline/milestone to utilize for you to calculate your expenses in order to make the determination of how much it will cost you to provide the services.
At that point, you can then ADD to your calculated “baseline” fee to create your own List of Fees for Services that you’ll provide.
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Here is a post I created that amalgamates data. It should provide you (a business owner) with a formula to calculate your actual out-of-pocket costs & determine how much YOU should charge your clients for your professional services.
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She wasn’t mean…she was honest. You need to have a business plan so you know how much you should be charging based on what your business is costing you to operate.
There is a lot of info here about figuring the cost of doing business. Please search here ((ribbon up top … Faint microscope next to your pic) and search. cNsa5 has posted numerous threads about running a business.
Only YOU can decide how you can make a profit … based on your demographics and your income needs. Example - you may be middle of a big city whereas I am in the country - there are no FedEx or UPS locations in my little town - it’s 30 miles round trip to go drop the package (since they want me to come back to the office to scan first), Also, I can drive 25-30 miles and still be in my home county – that is time and mileage and both are money. The printing, phone calling, coordination with signers, etc etc The list goes on and on.
I wish you luck and do not envy you trying to start in this business now - mortgage rates are 7%, way up from a couple years ago when they were 2-3%.
Best of Luck
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Not being mean; being factual. Everybody has different circumstances. Does your car get 40 mpg or 12 mpg; is gas $4 or $6/gal? What does your auto insurance cost? How do YOU value your time? (less than minimum wage or the professional you aim to be?) Paper & toner are the least of your expenses, but they are still a cost factor. Equipment needed? Taxes, health insurance…cost of your home-office, internet, cell, utilities…advertising, schooling, memberships! Those are but a few of the ‘cost’ factors. Now add your PROFIT. You are no longer an employee; you are a business owner who needs to do the math to see at what price point you are a profitable business owner. And you are the only person with the answers to above questions.
And, yes, I do agree that it helps to know what your profitable business competition charges. Not so you can just brainlessly undercut them, but so you can figure out if this biz will provide a living? pin money? or it’s just something to do & gets you out & about for a couple hours and once in a while a $50 check appears. Way too many of those right now. Don’t be one of 'em.
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@Arichter thank you for elaborating on business costs … I got tired of typing!!! LOL AND I didn’t want her eyes to glaze over!! 
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My apologies, I understand. Seriously. Thank you for your help.
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Thank you for your help.
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I want to thank you for your help and input.
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BTW @trsss something I just noticed and an important point you need to keep in mind … I see you’re in SC … You are in an attorney state … any closings you do must have an attorney involved. How you go about that in SC I’m not sure. You’ll need to check your own state’s laws on that matter
Also, do a search here and on Notary Rotary (Find A Notary) … enter your zip code … That will give you an idea of the competition you’re facing … just on these two sites.
Again, good luck
cNsa5 's above post laid it all out in detail. This is not something you’re going to accomplish in 1/2 hr. BUT, once you do it on a spreadsheet, it’s really quick & easy to change the figures as costs go UP (not much comes down & gas changes with every tankful). Do it as ‘right’ as possible the first time and you will forevermore know what to charge to be PROFITABLE. And that’s gonna be hard to do for the next couple of YEARS.
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Yeah, Linda… I just saw that after posting last one. SC is a strange one, all right.
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Yes you’re absolutely right I did forget to mention that I am in an attorney state. But I will definitely take your advice and thank you for your response. God bless
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Yes, we don’t have a lot of options like you guys do, and the competition is fierce here. there are a lot of notaries here. I’m Doing my best to set myself aside it’s been a challenge. I do offer fingerprinting. Live scan and ink fingerprinting and apostille services. I have an office so that has really helped me with my business. But i really enjoy doing the loan signings. I’ll get out more often to network with local attorneys to inform them that I offer mobile services as well. maybe that will help.
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There is a lot of competition here.
Hi Mrs. Arichter
I am also a new notary and I need your transparency on the fees I should charge for loan signing in California. I am in the process of purchasing the Escrowtab IPEN platform for loan signing and to make sure I am not overwhelmed with several documents that can cause error and delays in payment, however; I am more concern on two things. Firstly, being that I will be purchasing the IPEN platform can I still charge a $100+ as to doing things with a laser printer that is very costly? And secondly, what questions do I ask a title/contracting company before I accept an assignment to make sure they aren’t trying to manipulate my time and compensation?
Remember don’t hold back. I need your business shrewdness ….
Can’t help you. CA is a different planet and I don’t do IPEN as I see no way clear (here) for good enough ROI…particularly in current market. Good luck.
Ok can you help on what kind of questions I should ask a title/contracting company when they contact me, to reassure reliability and that they are legitimate in payment?
I’m sorry but what is an ROI??