Posted by John Elliott, CPa on 5/18/10 3:27pm
Msg #336989

Fees for signing direct with title company.

What is a fair price to charg a title company to do a signing with a full set of edocs? I have noticed on the HUD that the notary fees might run up to $200. Any opinions? How hard can you negotiate for $125-$150? Will they stop calling if you hold out and will they run to the guys who will do $75-$100?

Reply by JanetK_CA on 5/18/10 3:35pm
Msg #336997

That will depend on the title company. But consider that they are paying those fees anyway, if they use a signing service. Decide what you're worth and don't price yourself too low.

BTW, if you're planning to work directly for title companies, you also better make sure that you truly know what you are doing. If they're going to pay the full fee directly to the notary, they don't expect to have to be hand-holding and answering tons of questions... And they should be able to also expect the package to get signed properly, without mistakes.

Reply by Notarysigner on 5/18/10 5:13pm
Msg #337037

Also NEVER call them and ask how do you do something if you don't know the answer, it will be your last call.

Reply by CF on 5/18/10 3:41pm
Msg #336999

There are many variables to consider. Yes and Yes is the answer. It, also, depends on how saturated your market is? If you are the only notary for 20 or so miles....then you may have a chance commanding high fees.....if there are 200 notaries in a 20 mile radius then you will have a lot more difficulty obtaining this.

I service a small geographic area and only take closings that take less than 2 hours to complete from start to finish. That is considering printing, driving, signing, dropping, and getting home. Some take less...most of the time I can count on this 2 hour time frame traveling to my farthest area that I service. This is the basis for my profitability model.

Reply by Pat/IL on 5/18/10 9:54pm
Msg #337063

Why would you charge a title company any differently than anyone else? Ultimately, it's the borrower who is paying your fee any time you complete a signing (well, the ones that fund anyways).

If the title company outsources to a signing company, they probably don't have the cost burden of full time employees to hire signing agents. If they are hiring you direct, they are still paying somebody to find you.

Charge what you have determined your services are worth.

Reply by Don Courtney on 5/19/10 1:16am
Msg #337071

75% of my business is from the local escrow office of a large, nationwide title company. In my experience, they are not very fee sensitive as long as you are reasonably "in the market".

They do have high expectations that:

1. You get the docs signed correctly the first time, every time
2. You are always available for them. This means you always answer the phone and do NOT clutter up your schedule with $75 SS jobs.
3. You will go anywhere they need with short notice. Expect some longer trips.

In my market (Los Angeles), $150-$200 is common, with higher fees for longer distances.