Posted by sue_pa on 2/26/09 5:29pm
Msg #278828

two loans

Once again, my "peers" amaze me. Two loans on two separate properties equates to two closings. It is not a piggy back. The borrower is paying full fee for two separate sets of title work. They are paying lender costs for two separate loans. Everything is times two. Why would you, the only one in the process, be willing to accept 1/2 fee for the second, especially when you are now closing two entirely separate loans for $75 - that is $37.50 per loan. I seldom care what "my competition" does but I am truly amazed quite often.

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/26/09 5:55pm
Msg #278833

No way....

Are you saying they're only offering $75.00 for BOTH? That means they were only offering $50 for the first and $25 for the second, right?

Ouch. Never.

I, too..never really care what others do, but that does amaze me. I know people are desperate, so I'm not surprised and I would never tell anyone they shouldn't do it. It's none of my business to get between two other entities who have an agreement.

I know I wouldn't enter in to that kind of an agreement, though. My time and effort are worth more than that and I'd have to politely decline.

Reply by Lee/AR on 2/26/09 6:40pm
Msg #278841

Re: No way....

No... what she said was 1st full loan for $75 and 2nd full loan for half that or $37.50. I am sure their reasoning is 'well, you're there anyway'. And my answer would be a polite but emphatic NO! Rather than "Are you nuts?"

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 2/26/09 6:43pm
Msg #278846

Re: No way....

That's what I thought she said, too... but then there was this:

"...you are now closing two entirely separate loans for $75 - that is $37.50 per loan."


Either way... I'd still say no. Not for two loans, and quite possibly not for one, either. But that's just me.

Reply by sue_pa on 2/26/09 6:46pm
Msg #278848

nope

Marian had it right. $50 for the one loan and $25 for the second. total of $75 for two separate loans on two separate properties.

I actually was going to do the one for $50 because I would have made a decent hourly rate. When she called with the second I had to decline because I am not subsidizing someone else up the ladder with my work when the borrower is paying twice.

Reply by Lee/AR on 2/26/09 6:52pm
Msg #278851

2 apologies in one thread....

Guess I can't keep track of printing mutiple attachment docs and what's going on here--
Sorry. And... if I'd gotten it right the first time, I'd have forgotten about being polite and just blurted out "Are you nuts?"

Reply by Cari on 2/26/09 6:56pm
Msg #278852

Sue...you would've done one for $50 ......

because you would've made a decent hourly rate...not following that?

Reply by sue_pa on 2/26/09 7:17pm
Msg #278859

Re: Sue...you would've done one for $50 ......

borrower's have docs so no questions. I know the lender so I know how long it will take to get the paperwork signed. I know the time from my house to their house and back. Door to door would have taken me 35-45 minutes. for a Saturday a.m. at 10:00, that's good enough for me.

Reply by Lee/AR on 2/26/09 6:40pm
Msg #278842

Re: No way....

No... what she said was 1st full loan for $75 and 2nd full loan for half that or $37.50. I am sure their reasoning is 'well, you're there anyway'. And my answer would be a polite but emphatic NO! Rather than "Are you nuts?"

Reply by Lee/AR on 2/26/09 6:41pm
Msg #278844

Sorry for double post. Guess I really meant it. n/m

Reply by AngelTX on 2/26/09 8:21pm
Msg #278862

Re: Sorry for double post. Guess I really meant it.

i had someone call for a mobile notary, i gave a quote for $40 thought that was a bargain, she called me and said she had someone who would come right away and was only charging $20, i was ok no problem. I was thinking, in Houston traffic, sorry I am not on crack and not that desperate!

Reply by MW/VA on 2/26/09 9:47pm
Msg #278865

That's more than an insulting fee--it's a slap in the face! I think this has to go down in the books as the ultimate "lowball" offer. Good for you for turning it down.

Reply by Becca_FL on 2/26/09 11:48pm
Msg #278870

UGH, I just puked in my mouth. n/m

Reply by Tess on 2/27/09 8:04am
Msg #278877

Well it wasn’t me! I don’t do $50 or $75

I am surprised you would, Sue. Yesterday I unfortunately had bad manners when I laughed at a company that wanted to pay $50 for a purchase closing in a realtor’s office!

Reply by Cari on 2/27/09 10:36am
Msg #278906

okay, so now someone is talkin what I'm thinkin...thx Tess..

I think the only way I'd do a closing for $50 bucks is if the BO had the docs, and the closing was in MY office.

Other than that, regardless of how well I know the lender or title company, it comes back to my time...and $50 bucks does not pay for my time.

Sorry, but I don't give any type of loyalty, not anymore anyway, to any title, lender or SS, not since most of my fav's have started to use low baller nsa's that would work for $20 to $50 (edocs or overnight!)

But if this works for you Sue, more power to you, but in the end, I believe anyone working for that price, just lowers the scale and/or demeanors our profession even more, no matter how one 'justifies' the reason in taking on the low paying job.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 2/27/09 12:12pm
Msg #278924

I echo Sue.

If it is a profitable $50, why not?
No printing, minimal travel, minimal time, minmal docs, I think she mentined 30-45 minutes out the door to back home. I think she also said she knew the lender's packages well.
I don't think a regular e-doc package's signing value is $50, but with some situations I can accommodate a $50 closing. It's all about the profit margin with me.

Reply by Tess on 2/27/09 1:07pm
Msg #278940

Re: The only problem with that is,

once they find someone close who will do it at a lower fee, they then go to all the close notaries public regardless of their experience, and then the lower fees start to become the norm for everyone, close or not! So the way I see it, is that anyone who goes below their normal fee is actually changing the fees that are offered!

Reply by Cari on 2/27/09 2:48pm
Msg #278959

Exactly Tess...so it's not a matter of

convenience for the nsa, its how that decision of accepting such a ridiculous low fee will affect the rest of the nsa's...

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 2/27/09 2:59pm
Msg #278960

Re: The only problem with that is,

"that anyone who goes below their normal fee is actually changing the fees that are offered! "

Not necessarily! When I was personally doing signings I would do some of those "quickie" close by ones, docs to borrower, for $50, and still got my normal fee from the same companies for other signings.

As a signing service I know I can find closer notaries for some of the signings, and at a lower fee, however I prefer experience.

Sue made a profit, as she said, and she probably didn't have anything else for that time slot. As long as you are making the profit you want to make why not take a signing close by with docs to the borrower for less than your "normal' fee.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/27/09 3:20pm
Msg #278962

Where have you been?

"So the way I see it, is that anyone who goes below their normal fee is actually changing the fees that are offered! "

Lowball companies have been offering $50 fees forever and they're here to stay, no matter how many of them you or I or Sue turn down. If a company were going to lower their fees, they would have already done it over the past year. If they haven't by now, they're not going to. Conversely, even if business quadruples, the lowball companies aren't going to raise their fees a bit.

You can't unring a bell, the damage was done a long time ago. There's no point in worrying how it's going to affect the industry, it's already had its effect on the industry and we just have run our businesses accordingly.

Reply by Tess on 2/27/09 4:00pm
Msg #278966

Re: You have a point, but

I will say that they are still dropping their fees. I just got a shock the other week, when a new person starting scheduling for one of my TC clients that an amount of $$$ was our ongoing agreement, and to my surprise I received a confirmation of $$.

By the way Sue, this was not personal. Just surprised, and told it the way I see it! :> Like Sue wrote in the beginning, I also have found on the times that I lowered my fee some, that the files were always bigger and had problems and just was not worth the hassle.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/27/09 8:25pm
Msg #278994

Re: You have a point, but

Sue said she knew the client and knew the package. I agree with her and CaliNotary and feel this attitude is partly why they have both been so successful. I think we can sometimes bite our noses off to spite our faces by being too rigid in our policies. It's all about knowing the industry, our own businesses, and relative value of our time, plus expenses. If there is no out-of-pocket other than minimal mileage expense, then it's just a matter of time and energy. Profit is profit.

Reply by Tess on 2/27/09 9:18pm
Msg #279004

Re: Then don't complain about lowballers as you are one! n/m

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/28/09 12:09am
Msg #279029

Re: Then don't complain about lowballers as you are one!

I'm sure not one. I can think of VERY limited circumstances where it would be financially feasable for me to take a $50 signing, but in reality I'm just not going to bother asking the questions that would lead me to that decision, I'm just going to say no.

At least when it comes to full loans, but loan modifications are a different story. Or they would be a different story if I ever got calls for them, so far I've done a whopping 2 of them. But if they're really close, I'll do em pretty cheap if I don't have anything else going on, I don't think $25 for half an hour of my time is insulting when there's virtually no overhead involved. Lord knows I'd be thrilled if I found a regular job that was willing to pay me $50 an hour.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 2/28/09 5:23pm
Msg #279097

Exactly!

I haven't done a regular signing for $50 since I was a wet-behind-the-ears newbie. But I'll notarize a signature or two for that, if it's reasonably close. For a total of 45 minutes of my time, definitely worth it to me. But if there's lots of prep time, jumping through hoops, or a usual size package, that's a bird of a different feather.

Reply by sue_pa on 2/28/09 9:52am
Msg #279062

Re: The only problem with that is,

This company has been around for at least a decade. They paid $50 ten years ago and they pay $50 now. Other than an odd ball location where they may require someone to travel a distance, they're paying $50. So in this case, I am not lowering any bar.

I would have made more "per order" on that $50 job than I did on a $200 e-doc order yesterday a.m. "up in coal country". I look at it as the bottom line per job regarding what is involved, who my client is, and most importantly, what they expect for the fee.

To Cari, I am actually one of the last ones you should accuse of lowering a bar in this business.