Posted by Dlars_FL on 2/8/06 2:24pm
Msg #95575

Reverse Marketing? Anyone tried it?

Ok, here's my thought. Issue a Press Release to your local news publications. This may work better if your in a smaller community or if it's a "slow news day." Something along the line of,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dateline: Anytown, Anystate. February 8, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: xxxxxxx
Voice: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
fax: (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Email: [e-mail address]

HOW TO GET THE BEST HOME LOAN DEAL – NATIONWIDE


LET YOUR KEYBOARD DO THE WALKING

Homeowners can get the best loan deals available nationwide via a few punches on a computer keyboard. This is thanks to deregulation in the banking industry and improvements in using the internet. Banking deregulation means that homeowners can now get a loan from a lender in another state. The internet makes getting a loan fast and easy - a terrific boon for the consumer. Low fixed-rate loans with little or no closing costs are offered online by many of the major established lenders including Countrywide, Citibank, Chase, etc.

While the banking industry was deregulating, the internet was becoming more accessible to people at home. “Let your keyboard do the walking” has given many a future or current homeowner the deal of a lifetime. www.eLoan.com, www.LendingTree.com, major lenders’ websites, and others have truly great deals to offer.

NOTARY SIGNING AGENTS MAKE INTER-STATE LOANS POSSIBLE

Another industry has simultaneously emerged to facilitate borrowers in getting great deals: Notary Signing Agents. They are a group of highly trained and tested (certified) notaries who have joined the lending industry in serving families looking for the ultimate loan. There are documents in virtually every loan package that require notarization. Notary Signing Agents provide both notary services and loan expertise to help the borrowers know what they are signing and why.

HOW THE PROCESS WORKS:

LendingTree.com may find a terrific loan for a couple in Florida by hooking them up with a major lender in California and a title insurance company in Texas. Flying a trained notary to Florida is too expensive. So the lender hires a notary signing agent who lives in the borrower’s county. The notary brings the loan documents to the borrowers’ home or workplace, spends an hour or so reviewing all the documents with the borrowers, instructs the borrowers where to sign and initial, gathers identification information, then sends the signed and notarized documents back to the out-of-state lender via overnight delivery. In about a week, the deed (or mortgage) naming the new lender is recorded in the borrowers’ home county and the loan is funded. This is all due to the magic of the internet, the valiant overnight delivery services, and trained notary signing agents available nationwide.

THE CATCH

Most notaries cannot adequately handle loan packages unless they have specific training and certification in real estate documents. If the documents are not signed and notarized perfectly, the loan will not fund. Many a true notary signing agent has had to work with frustrated borrowers to re-sign loan documents that were incorrectly handled by inexperienced notaries.

THE SOLUTION

What can you do to assure quick, problem-free closing of your loan? Tell your lender the name and phone number of the notary you want to close your loan. Tell the lender that use of a Signing Service to find a notary for you is not acceptable. Signing Services are personnel agencies who accept the job of securing a notary appointment. But the Signing Services are middlemen who keep an average of 75% of the fee paid by lenders for a closing so only the worst and least experienced notaries work for them.

3 ways to find a trained and tested notary: *Conduct a Google or Yahoo search by entering the words “notary” “certified” and the names of your city and state. The best notary signing agents have their own websites. *Visit a notary trade association website. Associations for professional notary signing agents often have websites with signing agent databases you can search for free. (The sites usually want you to register at no cost before giving you access to the list.) Lists are usually searchable by zip code. Some of the best websites are located at : www.SigningAgent.com www.NotaryRotary.com www.123Notary.com www.50StatesNotary.com and www.SigningRegistry.com *Use the yellow pages. Look under the category “Notaries – Public.” Call a few notaries and ask if they are “Certified Notary Signing Agents”. If they say “no” or ask you what that means, they do not have the experience and training to help you.

A few minutes on the phone or internet to find a qualified notary will cost you nothing. But it can help you quickly close and fund the loan of your dreams.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact: xxxxxx
(xxx) xxx-xxxx or [e-mail address]
Or visit www.xxxxx.com

Reply by Jersey_Boy on 2/8/06 2:31pm
Msg #95588

***Notary Signing Agents provide both notary services and loan expertise to help the borrowers know what they are signing and why.***

Help the borrowes know what they are singing and why??? !!!

I don't know about everywhere else, but in New Jersey this is UPL.

Reply by Beth/MD on 2/8/06 2:34pm
Msg #95592

Tried what? UPL? Not recently.

Reply by Alex Yvonnou on 2/8/06 2:34pm
Msg #95591

Issuing a press release about you and your company is fine. The rest is a can of worms. Telling people where to look for a loan, who to use, costs, talking about regulations, ummm no. Very bad idea. Independent, neutral, can't give advice. Ring a bell?

Reply by MichiganAl on 2/8/06 2:37pm
Msg #95595

Well, there's my name again!

I stink at this anonymous thing. Good thing I don't care.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/8/06 3:31pm
Msg #95638

To original poster: Not only that, but certification doesn't mean squat! First, there is no standardization and passing a test doesn't mean you know what you're doing yet (although it's better than no experience/no certifcation!) I passed my first certification exam with high scores before I did my first signing. I would hardly have called myself a well-qualified SA, even though I'd been a notary for a couple of years. And anyone who thinks otherwise - unless they have previous experience with loan docs - is kidding themselves. Conversely, there are highly experienced SAs who could teach certfication courses who haven't bothered to get certified or haven't bothered to pay the NNA again to continue their certification.

This point, though, is not nearly as important as what was mentioned above about overstepping the boundaries of what an SA should stick his/her nose into. I get your intention, though. It sure would be nice to find a way to counterbalance some of the hyperbole being thrown around about our function...

Reply by Leon_CO on 2/8/06 4:21pm
Msg #95647

I'm new at this signing agent thing, so take whatever I say for whatever little bit it's worth.

First, it's too long.

I don't see a problem if you provide general information. But I don't think it's a good idea to suggest to people that they contact the lender and recommend a particular signing agent (there's no guarantee that the lender will use them anyway). And you shouldn't criticize other Notaries ("Many a true notary signing agent has had to work with frustrated borrowers to re-sign loan documents that were incorrectly handled by inexperienced notaries."). To me, at least, that's a no no. It makes you appear unprofessional -- like a mud-slinging politician. And there's no guarantee that the notary this borrower finds in the Yellow Pages is going to know what they're doing. They might come across "A-Notary" who took a one-day signing agent seminar offered by the XXA (including a one-year membership), and didn't retain anything. And leave the signing services out of it. Don't alienate people. They are your friend, whether you think of them that way or not.

I think that something along the lines of, "I'm often asked, just what is a notary signing agent, and how is that any different than a notary public? A notary signing agent is ..."

Keep it concise and to the point. Honest and impartial. Provide information, not a recommendation. You want to build credibility. But you'll destroy it by appearing that you have a vested interest. There is already a woman in this line of work who is quite adept at doing that. You can distance yourself from her by not sounding like the *Lord of the Ring's*. Just my opinion. Good luck.

Reply by BrendaTx on 2/8/06 4:41pm
Msg #95651

You have been told why not to do it and I agree that it is not the best idea even though I will do a lot of marketing wild things.

However, you write very well.

If you have a website, make this into an article for your website on what a signing agent does. It will generate a lot of good content.

Leon is correct that for print it is too long. However, for a website you need a lot words for Google/yahoo etc. to grab you and index you. Set up topics at the top for bookmarks down below and you are in business.

If you have never seen it, take a look at this site: http://associatedcontent.com

You can probably find many sites like that to twitch your fingers for while waiting for your signing biz to take off. Good luck!

Reply by SatomiCO on 2/8/06 4:46pm
Msg #95652

A press release includes the four W's and one H:
Who
What
Why
When
How
All explained on just ONE sheet of paper.