Posted by Tasha on 3/22/05 12:49am
Msg #26866

Why is everyone so hard on "newbies"

yes i read mes.#13477. Everyone was new at one time!

well i probally wont get an answer but here it goes................ how much is the average u get to close a morgage?

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/22/05 12:54am
Msg #26868

We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

... just those who are not willing to do their own research before posting the same question answered over and over again. Go back and read the posts before this particular page.

If you put the two-letter abbreviation for your state after your name more people will be able to help you.

Reply by Tasha/IN on 3/22/05 12:57am
Msg #26869

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

thank you for the info

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/22/05 1:03am
Msg #26870

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

Hooray! Thank you! You've made my night!

One of the reasons for asking you to put the state in your name is that CA (California) has a notary on every streetcorner. Therefore the fees there are lower than in East Overshoe, Wyoming, where the nearest notary is 65 miles away.

People seem pretty much agreed that $65 is the bare minimum for a mortgage. That's exclusive of edocs (documents received via email or downloaded, then printed on a laser printer), or traveling far.

Good luck!

Reply by Tasha/IN on 3/22/05 1:13am
Msg #26871

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

Your kidding me I just refinanced my house and it said the mortgage closer got $350 that's why i was interested in becoming a mortgage closer I also read threw some messages and one lady said they offered her $500. I'm confused.

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/22/05 1:26am
Msg #26873

Yup! Many people get sucked into buying courses!

The amount on the mortgage paperwork is split among several parties. For example, A) Mortgage Broker; B) Mortgage Company (the actual lender); C) Closing attorney (drew up the legal paperwork); D) Title company; Signing service (found the Notary Signing Agent); E) Notary Signing Agent (the notary who actually does the signing and notarizing).

You can expect an occasional high dollar amount to be mentioned here, for special circumstances. You should also see $50 per signing, and some even smaller amounts, as what some low-rent signing services are trying to get notaries to accept.

You will need training, a laser printer, and a cell phone at the very least. That's assuming you're already a notary public in your state....

Reply by Tasha/IN on 3/22/05 1:45am
Msg #26874

Re: Yup! Many people get sucked into buying courses!

yes i am a notary public. One more question why doesit have to be a laser printer verses a allin one printer (your average printer) ink cost? speed?

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/22/05 2:01am
Msg #26875

Laser versus InkJet

Lots of us use an all-in-one laser unit (fax/printer/scanner). There are two primary reasons: Permanence and speed. Never, ever, use an InkJet or other water-soluable ink! It will eventually smudge, and you'll be in the doghuse. So to Kinkos, Office Max, etc., and pay them to print the docs before you consider doing 'em in ink. It's a cost of doing business.

Speed is also an issue. Please keep in mind that you'll be printing TWO copies: One for the borrower and t'other for the lender. Using the number of pages per minute for your existing ink-based printer, divide that into 300 pages. Convinced? 300 pages is not the maximum number of pages I've seen, personally, just the higher average.

There are other threads concerning laser printers, and especially all-in-one units. Those threads bear careful reading. You will get a representative cross-section of notaries' experience.

Again, not tryig to discourage you, just trying to set your expectations appropriately! Do your research before thinking you're not going to have to spend hundreds of dollars before you see a penny come back. The days of all signings being overnight documents is over. Edocs are here to stay.

Reply by Josh_FL on 3/22/05 2:42am
Msg #26877

Re: Laser versus InkJet

I just purchased a refurbished laser all-in-one from tigerdirect.com for $132 (includes tax, s&h). Still trying to figure out how to use my broadband voip with my fax machine. Anybody have voip and use traditional fax?

Josh

Reply by Cindy_CO on 3/22/05 3:30am
Msg #26878

Re: Laser versus InkJet

I've also ran into Edoc programs that will only print on a laser printer too.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 3/22/05 1:39pm
Msg #26993

Re: Laser versus InkJet

And the majority of companies that do edocs want you to have an HP laser printer with PCL 5 or PCL 6 drivers. These drivers are proprietary to the HP printer. Some other machines emulate them but may or may not work with the docs.
As a signing service if I get a signing with edocs I will only use a signing agent with the HP laser printer with the correct driivers. I will not take chances on the signing agent not being able to print the docs out on a different printer.

Reply by Jayme in PA on 3/22/05 9:16am
Msg #26894

Re: Yup! Many people get sucked into buying courses!

Something has been bothering me lately when I read the boards....Many newbies continually ask, "How much money will I make?....I've looked at a HUD-1 and I see $300.00 or $500.00 allocated as fee", instead they should be asking how much education and training will I need to provide the best possible service to the public, or it would be great to hear they are interested because they enjoy mortgage lending, or real estate law or working with the public providing great customer service, or even "this field really intrigues me and I want to learn as much as I can".

If you are looking to this business to provide fast money, with little effort or education or investment of time and money on your part, you are entering into the wrong business.

A professional notary/loan signing agent knows that to do this job right means having competent knowledge of their state's notary and business laws, having competent knowledge of legal documents associated with real estate transactions deeds, POA's, subordinations, etc, and the function of documents within the loan package. They have competent knowledge in how the real estate closing process works! Professional notary/loan signing agents know how to think outside the box, and within the law to complete their tasks properly the first time........

To answer "how much money can I make". It's pretty easy to do the math. If you earn $50 to $65 per signing, starting out as a "newbie", you can see how many signings you would need to complete to earn that $300.00. Don't forget that you will need to covers costs such as gas, vehicle repairs, SE tax, phone bill/cell bill, printer, ink, toner, paper, and E&O premiums, to name some, with that gross $300.00, before you see your net profit.

This, as any business will take time, effort and dedication to become a profitable entity. Is the hard work worth it? I think so!

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/22/05 11:48am
Msg #26965

Amen! n/m

Reply by MsRobbo on 3/22/05 2:04pm
Msg #27000

Re: Yup! Many people get sucked into buying courses!

All that I can say is experience is the best teacher! A notary can take as many classes as possible, but it still doesn't prepare you for the actual situation . I know that when I was starting out in this business I made a few errors and learned from those closings. Fortunately the lenders were good about it and I am still signing for these companies. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Reply by JanetK/CA on 3/22/05 5:35pm
Msg #27058

Excellent advice, Jayme in PA!

[These comments are for new people in general, in response to multiple posts by and about "newbies".] Although Jayme's post may not be what a new person would want to hear, it is information critical to take to heart, if you want to be successful. And the attitude of the new person in relation to these comments often comes through their posts and is then reflected in the kind of responses they receive.

Sure, we hope we are all interested in elevating the status of our chosen line of work, which is why some of us bother at all to visit these message boards, but lets be honest... For many of us, this IS our livelihood, and we have invested lots of time, energy and experience into building a business and becoming a professional at what we do. If someone new comes along (especially in highly competitive areas) and wants it handed to them on a silver platter without doing their own homework, as someone else said, it can't help but get under your skin. What other field do you know where people will willingly train their competition, likely to undercut them in price, for free? It's just not a very smart business move.

No one owes anyone any answers, so if you can come here and learn something, please be grateful for what you can get and that something like this message board exists at all. And if you don't like the answer you receive, maybe that is the one you need to read over and over again. Sometime the least agreeable advice is the one we need most. Those of you who can see past a possibly unintended harsh attitude from someone whipping out a quick written message and get to the possibly tough but valuable advice some have to offer, will save yourselves lots of grief in the long run and likely be the most successful. JMHO... I hope it's received as intended - to be helpful, not critical.

Reply by Ernest_CT on 3/24/05 3:48pm
Msg #27484

Hear, hear! n/m

Reply by jojo_MN on 3/22/05 9:57am
Msg #26918

Re: Yup! Many people get sucked into buying courses!

I have to agree with Jayme in PA . Many people think they can just read the posts here on the board and get all of their answers. Each state is different. The first thing you need to do is contact your state SOS and get information on the state laws.

Next, sign up with a company to take a course ion how to notarize documents. If nothing else, the course book you receive will be invaluable for the basic questions. You don't know everything there is to know just by having a stamp. You wouldn't believe how many notaries think it is that easy. All of the notaries that have been in business for some time has had some type of training. We all worked at learning what we know.

As in any business, there are a lot of expenses involved. That is one point the NNA seems to forget when they suck people into thinking "wow--$50 for one signing--easy money".

I don't want to be negative, all of were "newbies" at one time--we just worked hard to learn what we needed to know.

Reply by CarolynCO on 3/22/05 8:01am
Msg #26890

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

*Your kidding me I just refinanced my house and it said the mortgage closer got $350 that's why i was interested in becoming a mortgage closer I also read threw some messages and one lady said they offered her $500.*

If you are looking at your own HUD, the $350 can include many costs, and not *just* the Notary Signing Agent's fees. Use your own judgment, or common sense, when reading and/or believing that one lady received, or was even offered, $500 for one signing.

Reply by n/a on 3/22/05 9:24am
Msg #26897

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

It's "You're kidding me" NOT "Your kidding me." English please.

Reply by Shane_IN on 3/22/05 11:38am
Msg #26963

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ...

Hey Tasha

I closed your loan hehe. As for the $350 on the HUD, that is split between myself and the signing service that hired me for your signing... out of that $350, the bulk of it went to the signing service, I walked away with a little less than half of that.

Like i told you at your closing, the fees will vary depending on how well you negotiate with closing companies, and who they are. The least amount i'll do a closing for is $75, and the most I've ever charged was $650 for a rush closing 2 hours away, after 9pm.

Glad to see you found the board.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 3/22/05 1:35pm
Msg #26991

Re: We're not hard on ALL newbies, ... - Tasha

The HUD (Settlement statement) may have shown the "mortgage closer" getting $350.
The notary may only be getting $50 depending on which company hired the notary.
A closer is a title/escrow company officer that also distributes the funds etc.

The closing fee listed on the HUD also covers other things.

Someone may have been offered $500 for a signing, and if it is true, there had to be exceptional circumstances - a double loan, emergency signing with edocs, and a distance away from the available notary, and had to have been hired directly with the title company.

I have never seen that fee in the several years I have been doing this.

Reply by Ted_MI on 3/22/05 7:29am
Msg #26885

Tasha,

I think one thing you need to do (at least in your mind) is distinguish between HELOCS (equity lines of credit) and refinances. Both involve mortgages; at least that is the case in Michigan. In other states it may be deeds of trust. However HELOC packages are much smaller and usually they take much less time. I do a lot for $50 bucks (each) and they only take about half an hour, and I don't have any problem with that (the fee).

Another thing I think you need to keep in mind is whether the docs are overnighted or are edocs. Nsa's usually charge an additional $25 to $50 bucks for edocs.

So the answer to your question depends upon various factors. Distance travelled and time of day (rush hour?) are other considerations.