Hello I’m a newbie, yesterday I did my 2 first signings one $80.00 and one $90.00 both over an hour drive away.
When can I start counter offering? I took these 2 for experience, should I wait till I have more signings under my belt?
Both signing were with Signature Closers LLC, I’m out of California Central Valley Area & Bay Area.
Thank You for your feed back in advance.
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Hi! I am a newbie too! I just signed up with Signature Closers too but I have not heard back yet. How long was it after you signed up that you got in and was able to start accepting offers?
Congrats on your signings that’s a great start!
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It took about 6 weeks before I got a signing, now I’m seeing them on a regular but like I said they are far from my location. I want to counter offer cause I don’t mind the drive, just unsure yet.
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give it a shot! worst they can say is no, especially if you’re taking the time to drive out there.
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If you’re driving an hour to a signing (& another back home), it’s simply not profitable at the fees mentioned.
When a signing isn’t profitable, you immediately counter with a fee that covers your costs (ALL of them) and provides a per/hour profit. But, FIRST, you have to do some work to figure out costs and profit or you are simply being a charity for banks, (who are not my favorite charity),
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I would say start counter offering at any time. I’ve had good luck counter-offering with Signature Closers, especially when they call me. They also have two sides to their platform, which is important to realize.
One is Signature Closers, which is effectively a signing service. The other is Signature SYNC, which is a platform for title companies to use, directly. Signature SYNC often pays higher fees.
In any case: I don’t think being new has anything to do with whether or not they approve a countered fee, or not - it’s just a matter of what that file allows (i.e. how much room they have to increase your fee, based on what they are charging to the title company, or, if they are the title company, what the upper limit may be).
For signings that are an hour away, somewhere around $150 would be at the low end, I would think.
I haven’t gotten every counter offer approved, but it’s fair to say I’ve gotten most of them approved (exception: signing services, where I counter via text, or in their app). $80 / $90 is incredibly low for any signing.
And since you are new, I’d recommend trying to strike a balance between higher counter offers, and racking up as many orders as possible, even with lower fees. That’s all a personal professional decision we each need to make, based on both financial needs, and goals.
The reason the “racking up as many orders as possible” approach matters is that all signing service platforms use an algorithm that automatically prioritizes you higher on their list, the more orders you have completed.
Example: for a long time, I had hardly any orders via Snapdocs (like 2). In the last few months, that has increased a lot, and I now have 49 orders completed on Snapdocs - and the number of offers I now receive from Snapdocs has increased dramatically.
And so, I’d keep both aspects in mind: don’t be afraid to counter, but at the same time, maybe be willing to take lower-priced offers when they’re closer, and still profitable for you - or, if you don’t mind the drive, and want to get another order under your belt.
I started in January, and I’ve completed somewhere around 175 total orders using this approach (with only a handful of them being in January and February). All the best!
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For what it’s worth, it was a while after signing up with Signature Closers when I got my first signing from them, but I have been getting them regularly, since.
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Are you a full-time notary or part-time? Some notaries in oversaturated areas get a part time job and do signings on side. Try going to direct title. Look online for the Escrow names.
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What city are you in?
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I think you must be in oversaturated area since you only get the far away ones notification currently. Maybe lots of notaries in your town. If you counter you run the chance that someone else will get the signing for the lower amount. Sucks I know 
I
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From what I’ve learned, the more jobs you have under your belt, the more likely you are to get offers and alerts. There’s an algorithm, like an earlier member mentioned. So, whenever you’re starting with a new service, you should take at least the first 10 or so jobs without question. From there, you can begin to counter, I’d say, since you have a solid work history.
For example, I’ve been signed up with Snapdocs since May and rarely ever get alerts. The few times I have gotten alerts they are always and I mean always at a time when I have another job. So far, I’ve never done a single job for them.
Even when I have 1 single job on my calendar for the whole day, if I get a snap doc order it is at the same time. So, I have a 100% response rate, but all my responses have been no. Meanwhile, there are notaries in my area with 500-1000+ snapdocs jobs under their belt… I’m still waiting to take a snap doc job. Even if it’s $75 (my lower limit) I will take it to get some history. Fingers crossed.
My last thought, though, is that if you feel you require more, ask for more. Depends on your unique situation and your values. An hour drive one way is really long and will eat into your profit margins. If snapdocs offers me a job an hour away with scan backs and offers $75, l will counter.
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I would definitely counter offer but make sure to put your reason. In this case it would be the extra miles and time. You can put how many miles you are traveling round trip.
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I work full time i’m also an Insurance agent, so I the fixability to come and go thank you.
I’m in Central Valley near Sacramento/ Stockton Area
Think you’re putting way more faith in the algorithms than they warrant. And most ‘new services’ don’t use 'em, so working for less isn’t getting you anything but, well, less.
If a ‘new service’ uses their own platform…well, they probably have their own algorithm…which is only as good/bad as programmer.
As to ‘time’, you can counter with a time that works for you.
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I have over 80 signings under my belt as a part-time notary. I almost always counter if the fees are unrealistically low. I am in an area with fewer notaries, but would not drive 2 hours round trip for a signing. The most I drive, and I am in a rural area, is 75 miles round trip and I get from $125-$200, depending on scanbacks. There is no point having a business where you don’t make a profit. After you get a few learning signings, maybe under 5 or 6, you need to start countering. It is insulting how little many services are offering.
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Yes, counter offer. They don’t seem to budge, though.
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Take 50 more, do perfect work, no mistakes, then your ready.
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Personally, I took as many as I could at almost any rate until I was at 180-200 signings. The issue is on SnapDocs it only shows maybe 15? On signing order it shows 150? And signature closers maybe only 10, but Amrock is like a lot! So that can be challenging except of course I use notary gadget and it shows your total so that’s a guide I use and it’s based on honestly…
Jody
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Taking either job put you in the hole financially. My minimum is $155 plus $45 for fax backs. My opening statement is “My minimum is $155 what can you do for me?” Start negotiations upfront and don’t let anyone hit you with "Can you come down to whatever. My experience is that those that lack a foundational level of business acumen will continue to get low paying jobs, learn how to position your response as though you have just told them to knock of the nickle and dime offers and let’s get to it.
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