All the FATCO offices in my county and the nearby counties have converted to SD. It was a corporate decision and I"m pretty sure the wave will keep going. I encourage you to stay in contact with the EOs you've been working with and have a relationship with. They can put you on their priority list with SD so you get the assignments first. They can also reach out to you ahead of time to see if you are available, and if you are, they just assign you through the SD platform.
Interestingly different areas have different fees they agreed upon with SD, even though they are all FATCO. My county pays $150 for signings outside the branch ($130 for seller package). In the branch it is much less. The idea there is you go into the branch, docs are there, you do the signing and leave docs there, (or ship from there if it's another branch's file). If you do have to print (branch signing), they add $25 print fee. Some branches in other parts of California pay much less than that, so that it's hardly worth it. I've seen as low as $50 for an in-branch seller package (and it's FATCO). We still have to travel to the branch so it's obviously better if we sign at their home or a coffee shop down the street from the branch, but it's not up to us. The EO sets it up before you get the request.
The EO can also request you drop the package back at the branch after the signing and there is no extra fee added to do that. I was told if it's within the same county they do not pay a "courier" fee. Some branches can be 20 miles apart from each other, so that's a lot of driving/expense for no extra compensation, but it doesn't happen too often in my case. The EO doesn't really know the fee SD is paying to the notary and we are not supposed to discuss fees with them. So you just decide each time what makes business sense for you, weighing the request, your relationship with the EO, etc. Just like we've always had to do.
I had already developed good relationships with most of the FATCO offices in my county before SD, so I still get signings and I'm willing to accommodate them even with a branch drop off when it makes sense (I'm going that way anyway, it's not too far away...) or even go out of my way occasionally to keep good relationships. Like everything, you have to weigh each job and decide if it's worth it.
Overall I am ok with SD. Especially if signings are outside the branch, but I'll do both either most of the time.
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