These are the ramblings of a notary who had an exceptional day instead of the day from hell! I truly enjoy serving people, and especially our men and women in service, past and present. Such a great day!
I thought month end was over, but Friday put a nice little bow on my numbers for the holiday week. I started out with a VA refinance. These are always huge with lots of ancillary HUD forms. I just hunkered down and methodically moved through the pile of pages before me and the borrower signed and I notarized everything in about 45 minutes. This includes a cursory review of the entire package before departing. At the first VA signing, the borrower asked if I could notarize another document he had regarding his pension, and I said I would. When we finished, he asked how much he owed me, I said, it's on me. Nothing doing, he said, he peeled off a $$note and handed it to me saying that was my bonus for such a great job and taking him through the process so smoothly and painlessly. He didn't have to get in his car, drive to the UPS store and stand in line to get the document notarized. When he purchased the property last year, that notary took 3 hours to get through his loan documents and he was expecting the amount of time. He wasn't looking forward to it.
It got me to thinking, why would a notary/loan signing agent take that much time at the signing table to get to the end of the pile. BTW, these VA loan interest rates are coming in at 3.125 to 3.250 these days. I had a total of 3 VA loans in 3 days. Borrowers are so excited to be saving a bunch of money and will likely not ever refi again. The final VA signing in Cambria at a home overlooking Moonstone Beach (this was my second bonus of the day) was with a retired couple. They invited me to their friends' home where they were enjoying dinner and a gorgeous sunset. As I wrapped up and began to leave, they commented they had signed a lot of VA refi's over the years, but this was the most pleasant and easiest to get through. Again, I'm wondering why notaries are making this such a big deal. It simply is not that much work when you parse out the pieces of a VA package while reviewing the documents before you go to sign the borrower(s) at their homes.
At the last signing, the couple asked for my card. They are buying and flipping properties all over the country, and I will be their go-to notary. Some days in this business far outweigh a lot of signing days.
Between signings, I had three field inspections that took me between a pre-foreclosure capturing the status of occupancy and property condition, and two delinquent collateral payment notices, easy peasy, even while traveling to the middle of nowhere. Some days this work is so satisfying and other days, I say to myself, why am I doing this, working for some companies is so cumbersome with late docs, a zillion notary certificates, or signing on TV trays, low coffee table in dim light, and worse, on our knees. More and more I'm thinking of other places to sign instead of a sticky, oily kitchen table. Like, the library, a hotel lobby where I know there is a table to sit at, a Coffee Bean and Tealeaf where they have a meeting room you can reserve.
So I ask my fellow seasoned notary pals, how long do you spend signing VA loan packages in your neck of the woods, without rushing the clients?
|
