Posted by kynotary on 7/30/05 11:05am
Msg #55875

Pay for Notaries! This should be for all notaries to read!

Felt this was of such importance to everyone who does notary signings that they would want to have the opportunity to read this and review the post noted below. If we all band together and set some rates that we could actually live with, then we won't all get the shaft, so to speak, on the pay side. Just a thought.

Re: No scare tactics for me either...
Posted by kynotary on 7/30/05 10:52am
Msg #55873 from 67.140.137.64

There is another item that notaries should consider when reading this post and that is "HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE FOR THEIR SERVICES". You see the way the industry is keeping the price down on the Notary Signing Agent is by keep on promoting the idea of someone making a lot of money doing this kind of work, and the sound of even $50 to $75 per signing sounds like a dream to some, who think that they can do 5 or 10 a day, when in realty they can possibly do 2 or 3 depending on if they are willing to work 10 - 12 hours a day. What we all need to do is start charging a fair price for our services while thinking about how much it was mentioned that attorney's charge for their services. I believe that the minimum charge should be $100 and then an additional $50 for edocs, an additional $25 for faxbacks and that is if the signing can be done within a 10 mile radius. With all the costs involved in having and running this business, which includes an office, telephone, advertising, supplies, vehicle, vehicle repairs, and gasoline, unless you can get these types of prices, then you are probably making minimum wage. Well you can get that at McDonalds and be guaranteed a certain amount of hours and work every week, so why spend all the time and money to get into this business unless you are expecting to make more than minimum wage. Just a note to try and get everyone on a page that will work for everyone to actually make a reasonable living doing this line of work. Also, I think that the numbers that I used here are low for the what the job requires. What do you think TitleGalCa? Or you SylviaFL?

I also do appraisals. When I started working with the man that I work under to get my appraisal licenses, he was charging around $250 to $275 to do an appraisal. I have been working with him around 1.5 years now and his charges have expanded and range from $250 to $450 and the vast majority of appraisals that he does he now gets from $325 to $400 for and I charge from $275 to $450 with the majority ranging in the $325 area. I try to keep this my minimum charge. What kind of an increase is that over a 1.5 year time frame? You see, we have the ability to increase our pay structure by how we approach the issue. Yes, it can be hard in the beginning, as you will get a lot of resistance to your new increased rates and we have lost some customers, but what I found out in the process is that the ones we lost, were the ones that were not only the hardest to work with, but also the ones that didn't want to pay once the job was completed as well. Not to mention a hord of other things that go with the low pay companies. It seems that they are always on the edge themselves and you stand a good chance of getting burned by them in so many ways.

Just some food for thought here, as I didn't get into this to lose money or work for a minimum wage, but if you did, then good luck to you and I hope you can accomplish your dreams on a minimum wage, I simply cannot!

Reply by Charles_CA on 7/30/05 11:34am
Msg #55884

You are right on point regarding costs and pay. Please check my post at #55625. I am willing to bet that you do your appraisals directly for the buyer of the service whenther it s th lender, attorney, court etc. I doubt you have some bookeeping service take better than half the fee to pass the work on to you. I find there are many inequities in this business and I believe that is because it is so new. It won't be lon g before the superfluous get squeezed out of this business.

Reply by kynotary on 7/30/05 12:15pm
Msg #55894

Re: Pay for Notaries! This should be for all notaries to re

Excellent post Charles. I would also like to see Notary Signing Agents be required to get a license, as this would then make this business into a profession and would also allow us to charge a better and more fair price for our services too. I say this because everyone who is currently in and operating the business, hopefully, has taken the classes and gotten bonded and insured anyway. This is really not that much different than becoming an appraiser trainee, except that appraiser trainees in KY anyway are required to work under a licened appraiser for a period of 2 years and accumulate 2500 hours worth of appraisal work before they can even take the test to become a Licensed Appraiser and it is going to 3500 hours starting in 2008 and I was just told yesterday that for any new appraiser trainees to make it by 2008, they would have had to already started working under an appraiser.

Actually, for all of us already in the business, this would be a great way for us to actually make some extra money too, that is having the new signing agents have to be required to work under a licensed signing agent for a certain period of time before being allowed to go out and work on their own, as trainees would only be able to get a certain percentage of what they charge for the service and the remainder would go to the licensed signing agent. In appraising is ranges from 40 to 60% goes to the licensed appraiser for the time that the trainee works under the licensed appraiser.

Just some more food for thought, as there are appraisers raking in upwards of $200,000 to $300,000 plus. Truth is, this is actually what the signing companies are trying to imulate. They are actually taking a piece of the action before sending the signings on out to the signing agents that they hire, but they are normally only making from $25 to maybe $100 on the signing and I would say that they are normally making from $25 to $50 on each signing that they get signing agents to accept through their company.

This is what we should actually be talking about here and not all the petty stuff, we all need to be working on getting our government to make this a profession and require a licenses, insurance, and bonding, and then we can all earn some real money from doing signings.

Reply by Lydia Esther/Fl on 7/30/05 5:20pm
Msg #55968

Re: Pay for Notaries! This should be for all notaries to re

I totally agree ! I can tell you that I pay license fees , realtor ($520 yearly) , Title Examiner
( Continuing education courses ) Mortgage Broker ($150 every 2 years )

Not only that ($$) I think that the most important key in every profession is that they have to have some kind of a degree . Example ; The Real estate license in Miami (at this point )
you can do the exam in several languages ( if you do not speak english is FINE ) , so as a Realtor when you are ready to negotiate a contract you have to work with sales people that don't even speak the language of the country they are doing business in . I came to the US in 1970 from Cuba , I speak spanish as well as english , but , I am doing transaction's this day with some realtors that OH MY GOD ! It is a nightmare . This Country is the Land of Opportunity - OK - and the only real americans in this country are the seminole , cherokee, etc., we all know that ..... everybody has a different background (and with time we forget and believe that the ones arriving to this country now have no rights to a better life ) but in order to conduct business in a professional way and service the people correctly you need to have some education otherwise..........

and the government (all they care about) only collects fees for licenses and there we go........
I can tell you that I have been licensed for manyyyyyyyyyy years , pay license fees and not only that , but , I am obligated to do continuing education courses ( almost every 2 years) in order to keep my licenses active and be able to be in business . I think that

Reply by kynotary on 7/30/05 5:43pm
Msg #55973

Re: Pay for Notaries! This should be for all notaries to re

Now Lydia, just go ahead and let it all out! Just kidding, as I know the felling, as I am a realtor too. Have a Real Estate Company and pay through the nose. It is refreshing to hear someone like yourself speak this way, although I lived in So Cal for 30 years and the Mexican Population there felt the same way as you do about the new cuban population. They felt that they should have to speak english, just like we did.

I admire you for speaking out on this delicate subject and I believe that nearly everyone on this board would wholeheartedly agree with you. Fortunately here in KY, we don't have to deal with those issues much, but after living in so cal I know of what you speak Lydia.

Thanks again for your input, now all we need is to get everyone speaking out about the cost of doing business and maybe then we can get it through to those who are resisting that raising their rates, may not be such a bad thing afterall.

I know that it costs us over $10,000 a year just to walk in the door and start doing business as an appraiser considering the computer, hardware, software, buying comps for the counties that we cover, etc. not to mention the automobile, gas, office rent, overhead, utilities, advertising, licensing, continuing ed, insurance, and so on and so on. The truth is that is exactly why I started doing loan closings to fill in the slow periods in appraising, just to help cover the expenses.

Trouble is, it seems that most of the people I know don't really sit down and honestly figure up what it actually cost to operate their business for a year, but I do and I know it is very expensive. If we can't make a living in this business, then why are we here? Because we like doing paperwork maybe?

I love these quotes, here is one that fits here: "If you keep doin what you been doin, you keep gettin what you been gettin".

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Reply by sue on 7/31/05 7:37am
Msg #56058

... minimum charge should be $100 and then an additional $50 for edocs...

when you have experience, those are standard fees already. Everything takes time. You can't start this business at the top. You must work, earn your reputation and climb slowly to the top. Trust me, when you have several years of solid experience under your belt the companies that pay those types fees will find you. In every business you start at the bottom and work up the ladder and as you do your pay scale should be rising with each rung.

... additional $25 for faxbacks ...

if you're making the fees you are suggesting, fax backs for quality control are not necessary - necessary for funding in some circumstances but at the higher fees faxing back, splitting packages, etc., isn't a big deal

Reply by Lydia Esther /Fl on 7/31/05 3:18pm
Msg #56107

I believe in hard work ( as a matter of fact , that seems to be my way of life ) but I also believe in doing things correctly and giving everyone a fair share , but , I have been in the real estate market for many , many years and it is seriously affected at this time , because of all this new regulations with the license(s) , and the public is not receiving the same king of service , because the " professionals " are not professionals any more. I know that everyone needs to look for their best interest , but if you don't protect the profession that provides for your living , then people don't look for professsionals when they need them , purchasing your home is in most of the cases the biggest investments of a family , if the investment turns to be a bad one because you were not advised correctly then the chain of events is broken, buyers or sellers will not look for an advisor again ..