Posted by Linda Juenger on 6/3/11 10:13pm
Msg #385132

Get off the clearance rack.

If your are not being treated w/love & respect, check your "price tag". Perhaps you have marked yourself down. It's you who tells people what you're worth by what you accept. Get off the "clearance rack" & get behind the glass where they keep all the "valuables"...bottom line is... "value" yourself more...Re-post if you like...You might help someone get off the "clearance rack"!

Friend posted this on fb. This could be US.

Reply by 101livescan on 6/3/11 10:21pm
Msg #385136

A great analogy for ALL of us in this industry!

Have a great weekend everyone. A little slower this week, but next week has picked up for me!

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/3/11 10:36pm
Msg #385138

Great analogy, Linda.

I'm practically on a soapbox these days to educate new notaries about what it is costing them to do business.

When a person feels that he or she HAS TO accept a lower amount than one that will produce a reasonable profit, then it is seriously time to find another way to support oneself.

Otherwise, I'm telling you that your hard work is running you into the ground and supporting a parasite industry that has no income without a notary to do the work. This is not to degrade the work of signing services, but they are in it for the money that they can make off of a notary. They have no business if they have no notary to broker their business deals...and, rah for those fantastic entrepreneurs. But, I'm not going to help them stay afloat off of my work while they run me into the ground.

I believe in free enterprise. I believe in competition and all that jazz. But, if notaries are slow, so are signing services. I don't care what they say, they are. They need to make more per assignment in order to meet monthly obligations and notaries are being skinned down to nothing.

Find another way to spend your efforts and time so that you can actually profit.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/3/11 11:12pm
Msg #385142

Right on, both Linda and Brenda!!! Very well said!

"They need to make more per assignment in order to meet monthly obligations and notaries are being skinned down to nothing."

Exactly! All up the food chain, companies are trying to find ways to stay in business with less volume. Some signing services - and title companies - aren't going to make it and neither will some notaries. Those of us who will, imo, are likely to be the ones who can find a balance between keeping expenses low enough, fees high enough and finding enough volume to to make a profit. So we're all in a bit of a dog-eat-dog situation. And it isn't going to be easy...

Reply by Kevin/Ct on 6/4/11 10:35am
Msg #385164

Excellent advice, Brenda. I have noticed a number of low ball signing signing services contacting me to seek my service at ridiculously low prices. They seem to be taking advantage of the recession to impose price reductions on signing agents.

I usually let them go through their spiel, and then tell them that we are a law firm...not a used car lot, and we do not haggle over fees.

I agree that a stick to your price policy is required, but one has to be careful about restrainining trade. The consequences can be severe. One way around it is to unionize the signing agents.

Reply by Doris_CO on 6/3/11 10:57pm
Msg #385140

I'm looking for the "like" button. Thanks Linda.

Reply by HisHughness on 6/4/11 12:37am
Msg #385145

In a real estate transaction...

1. A lender is <necessary> to provide the funds (except in the obvious circumstances where funds don't change hands).

2. A title company is <necessary> to write title insurance and distribute funds.

3. An attorney is <necessary> to prepare certain of the documents.

4. A notary public is <necessary> to make certain documents recordable.

Without those parties or entities, the typical real estate transaction could not take place. Each is an integral part of the process.

What is not <necessary>, what is not <required>, what is NOT an integral part of <any> real estate transaction is a signing agency.

Signing agencies are a convenience. There is a role for them, just as there is a role for the wholesaler/middleman in commerce. But they are not required to complete a transaction. They exist only to make them move more smoothly. NSAs should remember that. You, and the other elements of a real estate transaction that are essential, are the engine; signing services are only the shock absorbers.

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/4/11 7:32am
Msg #385149

Re: In a real estate transaction...That is so true.

If signing services could hold their per transaction fees at reasonable rates, they would be terrific, but they are either so greedy that they cannot do this, or they have bargained too competitively with a title company for the work.

Frankly, I do not believe that there is still a need for signing services except for the convenience that they offer. The volume is not there any more and you'd be surprise what volume can be handled by a title company that operates effectively.

In the months of July, August and September of 20XX, I prepared seller docs for around 650 transactions. Most of these transactions happened in late August. Were were slammed with the bulk of around 400.

The lender provided its documents (normal package that we SAs are used to seeing). The title company provided the HUD and a couple more documents and offered in house closings or mail outs. Around 50% were sent to borrowers who did not want to drive in. Buyers were all over the U.S.A.

The title company was organized, but busy and they put the obligation on the buyer to find a notary and the title company employees stayed employed and remained happier at the end of the year. It will seldom use signing agents because they have identified an efficient method to manage a distant closing.

Hear this signing agents: Out of 300-400 transactions sent away, only five were a problem that caused angst at the title company. Zero notary problems among them, except for adjusting the HUD when a California notary attached his or her acknowledgments to loan and seller docs in spite of our best efforts to accommodate them with proper wording on our documents. The packages were tagged for signatures before mailing out and instructions were included for the borrowers.

Notably , we were able to sit down and work together to cookie-cutter the process and that did save time. However, this is when I began to realize that notaries must prepare to market directly to borrowers. There is a lot more to speculate on and explain why this direction was taken and why it worked. Part of it is because it was a solidly owned and operated business that did not want to split fees and truly wanted to keep every employee on staff through the downturn. They gave bonuses at the end of the year rather than paying schedulers to do the work so that they could get more and more and more work.

They were not going to skim profits and shut down when the good times were over. They offered the closing convenience at their shop. If buyers didn't want it, that was fine. The closing fees did not change because the mail outs took more time than the closing rooms.

Borrowers are and will be one of your major clients in the near future. Consider how to market to them on your website, and how to manage those as a notary, not as a signing agent. If you think you can't make money at that, don't do it. It's that simple. But I would say in Texas, Oregon, Washington, Florida, California and others, there will be opportunity that will yield a profit.

I have seen signing services even try to broker this kind of notary work. Get the word out to your client before they do.

Reply by 101livescan on 6/4/11 9:35am
Msg #385160

Re: In a real estate transaction...That is so true.

What a valuable thread here, my notary peers! I will keep this one in my vest pocket. I believe that it is harder and harder for signing services to stay in the game, many are barely hanging on. Myself, I don't work for $50-$75 or even $90. Let me competition swarm for this work. With the increased cost of gas, tires, brakes, etc. Hang in their everyone, stay stalwart for the fees that are justified. There is a huge difference between the professional career notary and the minimum wage notary who accept these paltry fees.

Reply by Barney on 6/5/11 8:52pm
Msg #385255

You get what you pay for

Yes, Been here 8 years and plan on staying. The notary who takes the low fees will not be in the business long. You get what you pay for!

Reply by HrdwrkrVA on 6/4/11 7:33am
Msg #385151

Amen to what everyone posted!!!!! n/m

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/4/11 8:24am
Msg #385156

Well said, Clearance rack NOT necessary! n/m

Reply by parkerc/ME on 6/4/11 10:30am
Msg #385163

Well said, Linda. Short and to the point! n/m