Double up: Now that you have ordered your new printer, may I suggest, doubling up. Get a second printer, a second scanner, a second shredder, etc. Machines fail; having a second machine is a way of moving to the professional stage of your business.
Now may I change subjects. Many people entering this profession think, and are told, they need to accept low fees to get experience. Low fees and doubling up on equipment makes for a difficult situation. When you take your car to the repair shop do they charge you less just because a new mechanic, with little experience, is doing the work on your car?
Looking at this business as if you are an employee working for someone else rather than as a business owner will lessen your progress.
You should definitely have your own laser printer. I had one that is older I discovered it had a problem with legal size. I had to scroll through the PDFs and print the legal separately. I’ve had at least one laser printer for over 20 years. You definitely want a dual or two paper tray printer. You can do well on ebay or Facebook marketplace if you do not have a local store. You should be able to find one about $300 or less including shipping. I found several locally in my market of denver. Some businesses are closing and selling equipment. Be sure and Google to make sure of machine size, pages per minute, cost of refills, is the roller in the refill, the type of connection to your computer (IEEE vs USB, etc) to get the best one for you. I was lucky and found a good one with low page count for $100. It is a bit big and heavy, but promises to be a workhorse. Took a whole new degree to figure out the software to set up for it to automatically choose the paper size. You might want to seek the help of an experienced computer person. There is a brother that seems pretty good, but I ended up with a Xerox. Shop around and read reviews. A 2 drawer printer is a MUST. In the long run you will save time and money.
Yes, I keep all my receipts. I sometimes work as a tax preparer so I know about my deductions. I’m glad all these things are deductible. Printer, paper, E&O insurance, etc.
I just found out I could buy a tray and add to my Brother 6200DW so I can be dual tray. It cost $190 for the optional tray. I’ll probably end up buying it soon.
I will check ebay for a scanner like you said. My printer only prints and that’s how I wanted it. I didn’t want an All-in-one. I wanted the scanner separately.
You’ll appreciate having that 2nd tray! I have a Canon Imageclass MF445dw that I’m ordering a 2nd try for also, no more stressing over page sizes. I also just bought a used HP document scanner from Ebay and set it to Auto to scan both letter and legal documents. One less thing to worry about.
I agree with you 100%. There is no easy solution. This is my first year as a signing agent. I have struggled with getting assignments. At first, I was declining the lower fees. As a consequence, I got no signings. In the last few months, I have only received 2 signings that paid over $100. I accepted the others paying $75 to $90 for a refi. just to get the experience. Most signing companies want you to have experience with 50 to 100 signings before adding you to their list of signing agents.
My sister was a signing agent in 2003. The majority of her assignments back then paid $90 to $100. To pay that or less in 2020 appears very unfair. It seems like the system is broken. Services like SnapDocs help to perpetuate taking advantage of loan signing agents.
I was advised to buy a printer as quickly as possible. I bought one recommended by another NSA. It does work, but I wish I had viewed the NNA YouTube posts about recommended printers. A two tray laser printer that automatically sorts letter and legal is the way to go. Get one of the recommended ones first and do not waste money and time with a one tray printer
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You have no business printing them documents at Fed Ex. It’s obvious you haven’t made any type of investment into a signing agent program if you are printing 300 page documents. It’s safe to really say you are getting $40.00 signings and paying a bulk back in printing cost and basically working for free by the time you make it to client after mileage and fuel cost. You need to be performing General Notary until you get your equipment and Signing Agent program.
You need a Signing Agent course. Look into Signing Agent Basis as Kendra Lewis offer lots of free content on You Tube & Facebook community. Remember the free stuff is a appetizer and you will have to make an investment which will invest in yourself and your business. Being a signing agent is more than just signing and stamping… It’s a science
You set up the legal on the printer itself by using the menu on the printer. It will have a tray 1 and you choose the paper size, then tray 2 and you choose the paper size.
