Posted by GOLDGIRL/CA on 10/19/12 12:12am
Msg #439133

Will work for gas

Got a call recently from a (nearly) 5 star agency wanting to update their database. I have worked for them exactly once in my entire life - a quickie GD years ago. They basically wanted me to confirm that my fee for my county and several surrounding counties was still $80. Well, no, it never was $80 and certainly isn't $80 now. I told the very nice man that it was $100 (minimum), and he said well, they pay $80 but will go "up to" $100 if they absolutely have to. I said thanks but no thanks, you never called me anyway; he says well, your fee is too high, that's why we never called you; I said you never called me when you thought my fee was $80, and we parted (forever) happily.

Point is, notaries RAVE about this company in SC: "Great pay!" "Excellent pay." "Exceptional pay." Etc. So either he was bs-ing me, or as I have often suspected, our fellow NR notaries are bs-ing all of us. So to those of you who think $80 is great, excellent and exceptional, go get it!

Reply by Joan Bergstrom on 10/19/12 1:00am
Msg #439135

CA Notaries

The signing companies are really struggling for loan signers inc CA and that' because we
are down to 159,900 notaries and there are just not enough of us that know how to
do loan signings.

I teach notary classes and we have lost almost 140,000 notaries in the last 4 years and we have almost put no one into the notary/loan signing industry in those years.

Approx 6 months ago I was teaching a notary class and one of the students said they were going to start a signing company and I asked what they were going to pay and they $65 total.

I told her she might be able to get some notaries outside of CA to work for that price but
CA doesn't have enough loan signers and all she will get is the "notaries who have no idea of what he/she is doing.

This company has since posted about notary errors costing them business. DUH.

I had another experience about a month ago at a notary class ( while I was checking in students) I could hear a woman comfirming 5-6 appointments on her cell .

I joked with her that she seemed to be as busy as I am and I asked her who she worked for?

She works for the 3 companies that give notaries a lot of signings in the $60-$75 range and pay without a problem with a lot of fax backs.

I asked her why she works for them and she said she get volume and at this point she doesn't have to do fax backs which tells me she is a very good loan signer.

I was impressed with her ( she knew her stuff) and I finally understood who works for these companies; she just doesn't know how to market herself and she is comfortable with the volume.
I told her go sign up with Notrot as premium member and sign up with all the 4-5 star companies.
I told her in CA no one needs to work for less than $100 with her experience.

She is doing 6 signings a day to make $300 -$400

I am doing 4 signing tomorrow and making $575



I know some other states have a too many notaries and it's difficult to get the fees that a CA notary can receive.













She had her son in the notary class.

Reply by ananotary on 10/19/12 1:08am
Msg #439137

Re: CA Notaries

I could not agree with you more. It is all about working smarter, not harder. I, too, have the same work style as you.

How did she react to the new news. Lol

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 10/19/12 1:30am
Msg #439143

Re: CA Notaries

The problem is that a lot of those companies think that they can get away with paying those "volume" prices across the board.

I, for one, could never handle volume.... it doesn't exist in my area because the population is spread out by geography. As such, a lot of the signing services simply don't even bother calling me anymore because they know I'll never accept their lousy offers. I do the work that everyone else doesn't want to do

Volume is great for city notaries and even some suburban ones. But those of us in the rural areas? No freaking way. $60-75 won't even cover my travel fees most of the time, especially if it's one of the times when I have to stay somewhere overnight.

I'd rather do 2 loan signings a day and make $600 - $900+ (yes, I can and do make that much on some of these) while driving to the ends of the earth than deal with 4-6 and make half that doing more work. Plus, I get to listen to a lot of audiobooks.

There are still plenty of notaries in CA to do the work... it's just that most of them have absolutely zero business sense.

I've always felt the the idea of "volume" in NSA work is a fallacy anyway... you're doing the same amount of work and you have the same expenses... so where, exactly, is the volume benefit to the notary? You aren't a production line. You're a single person taking individual jobs. Lots of jobs does not = volume discount. It means you can't do math very well.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 10/19/12 2:10am
Msg #439144

Re: CA Notaries

"...where, exactly, is the volume benefit to the notary?"

Yep, I agree it's a fallacy. As I figure it, a so-called volume benefit is only meaningful to people who have big gaps in their schedules and aren't making enough on the ones they DO get to pay the bills. But as Marian and others in this thread have expressed so well, it makes much more sense to make the same amount with less work, if you're pricing things right and working for the right people. And there are only so many hours in the day. I agree, also, that there's no reason anyone in CA should work for less than $100/per typical signing.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/19/12 7:07am
Msg #439156

Re: CA Notaries

HVR notaries called me and wanted me to work on a "volume" discounted fee, and I said, 'last year I worked for you four times, you call that "volume".' No thanks.

Reply by ananotary on 10/19/12 10:28am
Msg #439177

HVR Notaries is run by a jerk named Hector

I'd rather hang by my toenails than ever work for him again. Plus he bounced a check to a very good friend of mine. Ridiculous.

Reply by 101livescan on 10/19/12 7:05am
Msg #439155

Re: CA Notaries

My car doesn't start, nor navigate, neither do I, for under $100 for overnight documents.

I am LMAO because I know there are notaries out there doing this work for $50 overnight documents. That's a good thing, because that's not the kind of work I do, and I'm available to do better paying gigs, especially EOM for average $150 a signing...

It's all in the business model people adopt and accept for themselves. JUST SAY NO TO UNDER $100 work, it's easy, try it, you'll like it.

This business of volume...what a ripoff. Burnout on the way. I have two fellow notaries in my area who work their tails off for $50 per signing work! I don't know how they make any money, they are both over 60 years of age, they are killing themselves. I think the volume concept will end up being a fiasco, wearing themselves out and all the same costs I have making more than twice that amount. However, they are not stellar professionals.

HAPPY EOM everyone, I'm on a roll for the next two days, turning away lowballers. I don't even have time to say NO WAY, JOSE!

Reply by janCA on 10/19/12 9:55am
Msg #439169

Re: CA Notaries

I agree with everyone on this subject of volume.

I work for a super duper SS that sends me a lot of work. Last month I did 10 signings for them at a minimum of $125. I will tack on $$ if I travel. They do not micro manage or require fax backs or call you endlessly. They send me a confirmation, and that's it, and it's not 5 or 10 pages long. It's one page, stating the title company, the borrowers' info and a completion portion on the bottom asking if the loan closed and what the tracker is. They know I'm professional and will get the job done.

I did three signings yesterday. Two for this SS and one for a title company. Pay = $420.

I've had title companies call and offer me $100. I tell them straight out that my minimum for a title company is $150 with e-docs. There's no reason they can't pay that fee. I have one title company (that many on NR do not like) pay a minimum of $140, but there is usually an add-on fee for something (travel, faxbacks, etc). I have another that pays $175 and I will bend over backwards for them, even scan and email the whole package if it's a purchase. They are getting a quality notary.

You have to know your worth and then you have to let that hiring entity know your worth. Pass up work from those fly-by-night SS's, or a notary that is farming out work, and those that bottom feed to line their own pockets. You'll love yourself for doing that!

Reply by 101livescan on 10/19/12 12:43pm
Msg #439214

Re: CA Notaries

Amen, Halleluja, sister Jan!

Reply by Louisiana33 on 10/19/12 9:38am
Msg #439166

Incredible!! These lowball notaries make it very difficult for the rest of us who have bills to pay! In my area, alot of people want free notary work (car titles, affidavits, etc). I generally wont work outside a 10 mile radius for less than $100-$125.

Reply by MW/VA on 10/19/12 1:16pm
Msg #439220

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with an LO.

He has called to warn me about a potential problem with the husband in this signing. I called him after the signing to let him know everything had gone ok. As you know, we usually have no contact with the LO's. He was very appreciative that I'd done a good job, and joked about sending me flowers, etc. I don't usually go out on a limb, but asked him how much he thinks our services are worth. He said we should be paid $250-$300/transaction. I know they have no clue what paltry fees we're getting. I was just in a "mood" & decided it's the LO's that need to be our advocates for fees. They're the one's with the vested interest in having those loans signed. I felt it was unprofessional of me to discuss fees with him, but decided I had nothing to lose by doing so.
These $80 fees are soooooo ridiculous!!!! :-(

Reply by NVLSlady/VA on 10/19/12 3:55pm
Msg #439233

If not gas . . . Flowers

Interesting that the LO didn't know about the "paltry fees."

But hopefully you'll at least get some flowers after what you said to him "sinks in." (:

Reply by NVLSlady/VA on 10/19/12 4:01pm
Msg #439235

Re: If not gas . . . Flowers

I was actually offered a piece of icecream cake by borrowers today - and it was 8:00 in the A.M.!! The kid actually got his dad to give him a piece (I had just watched the cute little guy suffer through a bowl of oatmeal) before being shuffled out the door for school. Mom was also there and didn't protest. Boy, some folks have all the fun (and probably a "crash" around noon).

If these companies REALLY appreciate what we do, how about a gas card (fully loaded) or CHOCOLATES every once in a while!

Reply by MW/VA on 10/19/12 9:25pm
Msg #439300

Nice idea. Pats on the back only go so far. ;-) n/m