Posted by Michael Whittaker on 12/7/04 11:06am
Msg #12887

Fees?

I was mobilized (operation iraqi freedom) shortly after I became a notary. Now that I am back home I'm trying to get some work as a signing agent in the Los Angeles area. What are some of the fees that others charge?

Thanks,

Reply by CaliNotary on 12/7/04 4:07pm
Msg #12900

Fees have been discussed to death on this board. $1.25/mile round trip is a pretty good figure, but here in Los Angeles you'll be screwing yourself if you stick strictly to this. As you know from living here, distance is better measured in time over miles.

I start at $50 for extremely local signings, something that will take me no more than 10-15 minutes to travel to. This is usually 5 miles or less. A signing that's 20 miles from me can take anywhwere from 30-60 minutes or more to reach, depending on the time of day. For 20 miles my fee is usually in the $75-80 range. The $1.25/mile comes into play for me at about 30 miles or more. These are all assuming signing service fees of course.

Just keep in mind that LA has a ton of notaries and it's pretty competitive. You want to price yourself so you'll get work. Just don't undersell yourself either. There are plenty of companies who are trying to get us to do $40 signings, don't accept them. The more notaries that accept these fees, the more signing services will lower their fees.

Reply by Mortgage Closers of San Antonio - Kenneth C Whitton Jr on 12/8/04 9:07pm
Msg #13063

I did a split signing the other day, the husband was in CA and the wife was here in TX... The notary from CA enclosed her invoice in the package, along with notes on every page telling me how to do my job... That offended me, but what really offended me was her invoice and her fee of $225... She only signed ONE borrower and printed the docs... Maybe we here in Texas should move to CA... I command a good fee, but I also provide many services that most people do not... Truth be told, the CA notary made numerous errors which I had to go back and document to cover myself...