Posted by nobhill on 1/8/11 7:53pm
Msg #367679

Proposing New Lowball Fees for Signing Agents

Those of us signing agents who want more signings and to bring back down to earth our fellow arrogant and rather rude notaries, should perhaps lowball fees down to $75.00. Eventually the arrogant notaries who think their crap doesn't stink will have to lower their fees to get work.

It pays to be kind and nice to one another. What a den of vipers! How rude people can be on this forum!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/8/11 8:03pm
Msg #367681

So...Cheryl....Seriously?

You'd slit your own throat and run a non-profitable business just because of a discussion you disagree with on a forum?

May want to re-think your business plan...

MHO

Reply by DD/OR on 1/8/11 8:04pm
Msg #367682

Nobhill, why don't you crawl back under your rock where you belong?

Reply by mwm143 on 1/8/11 8:44pm
Msg #367688

For years folks in this forum have pushed for a united stand against signing agencies that offer low fees by turning down the work. It ain't working. They are still in business and we all still get those calls.

There are so many personal variables that come into play with each signing request. Only the signing agent can determine whether it's profitable. It absolutely makes no difference to me how another chooses to run their business. It continues to baffle me why so many of us rely on others opinions and practices to manage their affairs. There are times a $75 closing is profitable for me and other times it is not. I don't rely on someone in Kansas or California or Florida to make that determination for me. My fees range vary from $75 to $200. From signing to signing and company to company. Simply put I make more profit on some companies than I do others. But bottom line, I make a profit.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/8/11 8:53pm
Msg #367689

Put that way you're absolutely right mwm

"There are times a $75 closing is profitable for me and other times it is not. " Yep...every once in a great great while - a 50 page HELOC close by...it works for me

But $75-$85 across the board for all signings? No matter if they're 50 pages or 175 pages? Don't know about you but that can't work for me - and I'm sure it wouldn't work for many others. And I think that's what she's proposing..not to mention the ever-so-slight hint of price-fixing.

Other issues with OP will go undiscussed.

MHO

Reply by mwm143 on 1/8/11 9:13pm
Msg #367694

Re: Put that way you're absolutely right mwm

Honestly I don't check in frequently enough to recogninze a post that may be a carry over of an earlier discussion so I'm sure more than not I'm not responding to the whole story.

Having said that, there seems to be a regular discussion of an appeal to everyone to stick together and run those low ballers out of town and the constant ridicule of those who accept fees less than $$$. My point is a closing 10 miles from me at 5:00 pm will take less than 15 minutes whereas a closing 10 miles from a signing agent in Charlotte could easily take an hour.

I rarely accept $75 closings but would never encourage another not to.

Reply by Jorge Reyes on 1/9/11 10:11am
Msg #367732

Re: Put that way you're absolutely right mwm

hello everyone:
first of all i dont write in the forums much becuase I like to read more of what other SA have to say, and also I Love all your advices.
All I want to say that I agreed with Linda, and NWM143 sometimes taking a $75.00 singing is more profitable then a $200.00 one. It all depends on alot of factors, like everyone claims, and I know that for sure all of correct in your ways because each one runs their business different. I do business in Metro Boston and to do business here its easy for me even if I take a $75.00 signing but aleast I do 3 to 4 a day, now if theres more paper envolve thats a different aspect, I hope that I havent offend no one with MO, but I think that everyone should run their business in their fashion, thank you. And my respect to all of you

Reply by JulieD/KS on 1/8/11 9:11pm
Msg #367692

You are so wrong. I will not have to lower my fees regardless because I am diversified and have more than one income stream. I set my fee and if it's not met, I decline. Pure & simple. Your formula may differ if you have fewer (or no) income streams.

Reply by Stamper_WI on 1/8/11 9:35pm
Msg #367698

Personally, I encourage the lowballers to keep looking if they want to offer that fee. I rarely negotiate down. A good portion of the time, they come back to me at my fee.
This is because of the demographics of my area, all to often I have to go some distance. Paper and gas are my biggest costs. My time and expetise are worth something as well. I actually save myself money by turning down the lowballers and by sticking to my fee's I have less and less grief in what I feel in justifying my fee. Short and sweet discussions.
Today is a perfect example. For 2 days 2 companies called me and another notary in the area offings a lowball fee. I said no everytime. So, apparently, did she. Their last call to me was last evening. By then I had accepted another one for my regular fee.
By sending the lowballers to my competition , outside my network, They too relaize it is no way to make a living let alone pin money.

Reply by mwm143 on 1/8/11 9:40pm
Msg #367699

I lived in LaCrosse back in the early 80's......

Old Style Beer. $2.99 a case! Thought the winters were rough...until the past 2 years in NC!!!

Reply by Lavergne Manuel on 1/8/11 9:59pm
Msg #367701

I am in a small town and in a very rural area but because of the rural area they are not many signing agents. The closest signing agents are two woman that are approximately 26 miles who may be low balling me some but I don't think they do very much. Most of my signings are 50 to 70 miles away so I could not make any money by taking low ball fees and I have been doing this for 9 1/2 years. To the west of me it is very rural and as far as I know there are only a couple of signing agents and I think one of these use equipment where she works at to print the docs because her fax number is a landline about 50 miles from where she lives so she probably is not doing much and I am called to drive up to 100+ miles sometimes and I sure can't take low ball fees. My fees range from $105 in my county to $200+ to the west of me. It's hard sometimes for me to do more than one signing in a day so to stay in business I have to charge a good fee.

Reply by LKT/CA on 1/9/11 4:33pm
Msg #367753

No den of vipers and no rudeness on others parts. Your pride is wounded. Hughe's post summed things up well. People responded to you, not because you accepted a lowball fee, but because you accepted it, complained about it, then tried to blame the hiring party for something YOU agreed to. You are free to accept lowball fees all day long.....that's your business. But if you do, then you also accept all the headaches, babysitting, handholding, gameplaying, whole package faxbacks, and any other problem that goes with a lowball fee - * without complaint.*

Many Notaries, including myself, would rather not complete a signing at all, than to work at a loss. And yes, we get less loan signings but we also avoid the headaches that these lowball signings are filled with. I'd rather complete one loan signing at $150 (free of issues) than two $75 signings with problems.

I completed a loan signing last Friday, for $150...it took longer than usual because the husband (who wasn't even part of the deal, his wife and her mother were the signers) was at the table, reviewing the docs. But at $150....it wasn't that big of a deal (to me). The critical docs were presented first. It also wasn't a big deal because for every 10 signings, 9 take the usual time and only one goes a little longer so I have no complaints about an occasional long signing. And like all other signings, halfway through the borrowers got tired and wanted to just get it over with, so they signed away.

Bottom line: Like Linda said....you make your own bed in this business. Accept whatever lowball offers you want - just don't whine about it and certainly don't blame the hiring party for something you freely agree to.

Reply by NotaryMI on 1/9/11 5:49pm
Msg #367758

I too did a couple of closings in 2010 for 75.00 just to keep a check coming in. When you figure printing 2 sets of documents, notarizations and over 10 miles, it really does not pay. The packages are so big now compared to 2005 and 2006. I decided for 2011, I will not be excepting anything under 85.00. I don't care how big or small the package is. 85.00 is the lowest I will go and sometimes that is way to low with the size of the package but I know that there are other notaries in my area that will beat that price. Majority of my closings, I have 10-12 pages that I notarize.

Reply by Deborah Lewellen on 1/10/11 10:31am
Msg #367816

You all forgot one more thing....

And the price of gas is $3 and up, that puts a huge dent in profits.

Reply by Cari on 1/10/11 8:51pm
Msg #367941

don't have to propose, the low ballers are already accepting

those fees, there are plenty of low baller companies feeding them their b.s fees too.

I don't work for free, if that's arrogance, so be it.