Posted by Laura_CA on 2/23/05 9:10pm
Msg #22071

About the 40 dollar signings.....

OK for forty bucks...docs are overnighted to me/return overnight dropbox included, 2nd or equity line only, 20 mi roundtrip, twenty minutes to sign, no closing, just sigs, borrowers informed, drop on way home, one hr tops, badaboom 30 bucks an hr...back in slippers eatin' a snickers watchin oprah.....
Sometimes those long trips to LA or SanDiego with traffic, double Docs (lets not even talk about uniformed borrowers or just plain rude or mean people) not even worth the 250.00 bribe it takes to deal with it.

Reply by Anonymous/CA on 2/23/05 11:16pm
Msg #22105

I'm pretty new and I haven't met any mean people yet. Now your scaring me! But I like your concept of being all comfy at home in less than 2 hours.

Reply by BrendaTX on 2/23/05 11:26pm
Msg #22108

"Uniformed" Borrowers are the Meanest

Right Laura???

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/23/05 11:36pm
Msg #22109

Wow, that sounds almost exactly like the Citibank Equity lines of credit that I frequently do. Although they are usually edocs sent in Microsoft Word, less than 40 pages. 5 minutes to print out.

And the other difference is that I get $110 a pop, not $40.

Reply by fiKS on 2/24/05 2:43am
Msg #22125

What a great punchline Cali! n/m

Reply by fiKS on 2/24/05 2:59am
Msg #22127

Did a signing tonight. Borrower hired me directly for $65 to sign Mortgage and Lien Affidavit. Drove 7 mins away. Went to my Taekwondo class then home and waited for next client who came to my house with 16 pages of docs to certify true copies. Done in 10 mins., and received $5 for each = $80. Made $145 cold hard cash in a few minutes.

Got these businesses as a payoff from marketing instead of running around town for $40. So, tell me....how do you (yes, you $40 SAs) measure your success?

Reply by John_NorCal on 2/24/05 8:42am
Msg #22151

Need you say more! n/m

Reply by Margaret/Florida on 2/24/05 9:31am
Msg #22159

I get $100 for these if they are within 20 miles. Over 20 miles, I get $125. I will do Navy Federal Credit Union - docs go to borrower, 10-15 pages tops and I only do these in my neighborhood within 5 miles. My husband is retired military, so I have a soft spot and half the ones I have done are for people I know.

Reply by John_NorCal on 2/24/05 10:04am
Msg #22162

This just lends more credence to knowing what you're worth. You might remember an old ad saying,"We never argue with people who sell for less, they know the value of their product."
Substitute service for product and the message is still the same.
Cheers!

Reply by Roger/OH on 2/24/05 11:45am
Msg #22172

Re: About the 40 dollar signings - How LOW will you GO??

Several years ago, the standard fee for many ss companies was $60. Newer notaries being cranked out ad infinitum by NNA started undercutting that price to where the beginning standard now is pretty much $50. If you accept $40 signings, then you are reinforcing the companies that offer them and give them no reason to raise the bar for our profession. As noted above, it may seem like a good idea at the time to get your feet wet, but you are ultimately shooting yourself in the foot. When you decide you are worth more than that, the $40 companies will just replace you with a fresh crop of NNA newbies willing to take anything, then you will be on the other side of the fence. What's next? $30, $20? How low are you really willing to go?? Most here would agree that even the $50 ones are only worth it if close by and quick, and anything less is practically minimum wage once expenses are factored in. There is a point where YOU have to say "My services worth THIS much", and stick with it. Remember, it's not about what the companies are willing to pay for any given assignment, it's what YOU decide your fees are for it!

Reply by BrendaTX on 2/24/05 12:44pm
Msg #22183

Re: About the 40 dollar signings - How LOW will you GO??

The only thing I can figure is that those who go down to $30-40 are doing this for pocket change and part-time.

If I cannot make a certain bottom line of profit each month, this is pointless. It's no longer a business...it's a hobby, or a charity!

Why would anyone work for less than enough to stay in business? I am not even factoring in my time. I don't care about per hour. I'd rather work 16 hours a day for myself, than to have a hourly job making the same working for someone else 8 hours.

I care about what it costs to stay in business. You cannot invest in marketing, paper, equipment, mileage, insurance, and communication costs and still make enough money on a $40 signing to stay in business.

If you can believe you will profit at $40, you are not in it for the long haul, you are not a professional business owner and you have no foresight, or business plan. You have to plan to replace your equipment, buy tires, and make other investments into the business. You cannot spend it all.

And, when it gets so that I feel it's become a breakeven situation or nothing, it is no longer a business. The IRS won't even accept that kind of garbage for long before they'll tell ya you need to learn how to run a business.

Reply by Mike/NJ on 2/24/05 12:46pm
Msg #22184

Can you say "Would you like to Super Size that" n/m

Reply by Nicole_NCali on 2/24/05 1:42pm
Msg #22194

I think that you have maybe a month or two left in this business. The lowest I will leave my house for is $65 and this must be an overnight, heloc, that is w/in five miles or 10 minutes from my house. Anything less is stupid. Most on here charge over $100 or at the least $75 for overnights and according to the average in the geographic region.

You keep taking those $40..

Reply by Laura_CA on 2/24/05 8:47pm
Msg #22267

Woahhhhhhh, seems I hit a nerve, I didnt say I get 40 for EVERY signing...but when there is no work, just these 40 dollar quickies, and the SS says "I have 10 other notaries in your area that will do it", some of us must decide to put food on the table, no offense meant to anyone, and I am glad for those of you that can hold out for the big bucks, but here in southern California where the notary field is saturated and competition is fierce, sometimes we must do what we gotta do. sorry to those I have offended, It was not intended.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/25/05 1:25am
Msg #22351

I'm in Los Angeles. I've never accepted a $40 signing. There's still plenty of food on my table. And I'm not further contributing to the destruction of my livelihood by bending over for the $40 companies.

Some of us have the brains to consider the bigger picture, not just the immediate gratification.

Reply by Laura_CA on 2/26/05 8:50pm
Msg #22688

wow and I thought the uniformed borrowers were mean...

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/26/05 9:11pm
Msg #22693

Uniformed? lol

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/26/05 9:13pm
Msg #22694

Its called getting your foot in the door. Charge low, get experiance and get your name out there.
You will rais your rates ones you are ready.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/26/05 10:27pm
Msg #22700

" Charge low, get experiance and get your name out there. You will rais your rates ones you are ready"

And once you raise your rates those $40 companies, the ones who have your name, will stop calling you and start using the other chumps willing to work for $40. Great plan.

Reply by CarolynCO on 2/27/05 1:52pm
Msg #22745

**Its called getting your foot in the door. Charge low, get experiance and get your name out there.
You will rais your rates ones you are ready. **

Apparently, you aren't reading what has already been posted. Using the excuse of charging low to get your foot in the door is that, just an excuse. What's already been written over and over - once you raise your rates, the SS will dump you and find someone else for the low paying signings -- the same as they found you.

Reply by ERNA_CA on 2/27/05 1:59pm
Msg #22747

My aswear was in responce to Laura. And yes i have been reading the posts. And you are right about many SS look for the lowest fee , fact of life. New notaries will charge low to get their food in the door and if they are lucky and do a good job, might do well, might not. And I am not the one charging $40.00, wich you would know if you read the posts.