Posted by Grammyzoom on 2/20/13 12:30pm
Msg #456669

Don't like Lowballers?

Perhaps you can help do something about it!

Check out http://uprising2013.com

Reply by CarolF/NC on 2/20/13 1:10pm
Msg #456677

Who and what is this all about???? n/m

Reply by Resilient/MD on 2/20/13 1:32pm
Msg #456679

I believe this is a great idea....my 2cents....you should spell out the expenses. The newbies really don't know and TC think we are dumb. Heck if you would go to Staples to print out docs that expense alone is $16-22 for 1 set then times 2, gas, wear/tear on car, paper supplies, toner. Tha't why I only take signings in my County and/or in my travel path for that day. I never go out my way traveling distance for any signing.

Reply by dutchcloser on 2/20/13 1:39pm
Msg #456680

The best way to let low ballers know that we don't like there fees and sometimes unethical practices is to NOT TAKE THE JOB. The more us signing agents say no and stick to our fees these people would go out of business. We have to know our worth first and expect that from everyone. People only treat us they way we treat ourselves and if we keep accepting low ball offers of $65, because it's volume work, then that's what they are going to expect all of us to take.

JMHO

Reply by Shan/CA on 2/20/13 10:55pm
Msg #456784

When I first started out just in October, my first three local jobs (5 miles rt) were for $80. I desperately wanted to get my feet wet. Well, that same company called me today for 3 jobs this weekend. She said we have you down for $80, I said, "you don't have an option to change your fee on your site, if you are willing to pay $XXX, I can do it." I have all three confirmation letters and 1 set of docs! I said all of that to say, I agree with you Dutchcloser, don't take the job!

Reply by CarolF/NC on 2/20/13 1:45pm
Msg #456681

I don't understand why other notaries think it's a good idea

to undercut their competitors fees. They have just driven us down to $75 signings. Really, next year will be $50.

Reply by Resilient/MD on 2/20/13 2:00pm
Msg #456685

Re: I don't understand why other notaries think it's a good idea

Really don't think notaries that accept these fees are calcuating their expenses. Expenses can exceed that $75. And, especially with Gas prices keep going up and the increase in pages of these loan packages.

Reply by Joe/NC on 2/20/13 2:54pm
Msg #456700

Re: I don't understand why other notaries think it's a good idea

I agree and take no less than $100 as long as it is within 15 miles from home and package is reasonable of no more than 120 pages, I make copy for borrower on cd when client agrees.

Joe/NC

Reply by Sherry Flynn on 2/20/13 2:11pm
Msg #456689

Re: I don't understand why other notaries think it's a good idea

I too have been upset about this in my area (nevada) gas keeps going up notary prices keep going down. The low bidders are destroying us. they will all quit soon enough and we will be stuck with their low bids. I don't know wheather to cry or scream but I refuse to accept lower pay. Because of this my work is way down. Hopfully the companies will come back to the professionals. I know the low bidders will be making alot of mistakes. The old saying is true "you get what you pay for" Please stick together and refuse the discounted prices.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/20/13 2:03pm
Msg #456686

Nothing like an anonymous website to inspire

confidence in a cause.

Reply by Roger_OH on 2/20/13 2:30pm
Msg #456692

This idea and website are from Carol Ray... n/m

Reply by Susan Fischer on 2/20/13 2:40pm
Msg #456694

Carol's wonderful - been around a lonng time. n/m

Reply by Grammyzoom on 2/20/13 2:41pm
Msg #456695

Re: Nothing like an anonymous website to inspire

I posted the blog "The Uprising of 2013" on my website and all of the Linkedin groups I belong to yesterday and the response has been overwhelming. I have received emails from all over the country from hundreds of notaries and many response postings on Linkedin. Everyone is in favor of this movement and many have offered to help anyway they can.

When I realized that we might actually be able to do something about this I decided to create the Uprising2013 website and through it, we can get people to be a part of this. We all need to spread the word, share with our fellow notaries, specifically signing agents.

I spoke to one of my students just now, a brand new graduate, and she read the blog and said "That is Me"! You wrote about me. She has been taking $50 signings because she is desperate for an income to help support she and her kids.

I am sick and tired of hearing the complaints about "lowballer's". It is time for all of us to rise up and put an end to them. One month of them not being able to fill their orders should do it. Either they pay more or out they go never to be heard from again.

If you think you have any ideas or are willing to do something to spread the word, please go to the website and talk to us.

Reply by ToniK on 2/20/13 2:51pm
Msg #456697

Re: Nothing like an anonymous website to inspire

Well I guess the only uprising would be from the ones who accept those paltry fees. Many of them need to take some business classes or read some business books or magazines. Too many notaries getting in this business and thinking like an employee.

Reply by CarolF/NC on 2/20/13 2:52pm
Msg #456698

I'm in! I encourage all NC Notaries to jump in this n/m

Reply by Pam/NM on 2/20/13 3:14pm
Msg #456706

Exactly my thoughts, Linda and could

everyone who jumps on this bandwagon possibly be accused of price-fixing? I've been doing this since 2006. In all that time, this has been an issue for those who really are in business to make a profit. I still see lots of people from that era who were regular posters then and are regular posters now. The folks who tried to do this business at cut rate fees have fallen by the wayside and those who have stuck by their guns have survived. The noobs/cut-rates/those who refuse to learn will post frenetically asking everyone who has gone before to plan their business for them fall away after just a few months, or buckle down and become pros. Just sayin'

Reply by MikeC/TX on 2/20/13 6:45pm
Msg #456738

Re: Exactly my thoughts, Linda and could

"everyone who jumps on this bandwagon possibly be accused of price-fixing?"

Not likely, because no one is suggesting a minimum amount (unless I missed something on the website). The argument is that the amounts being offered don't cover the cost of doing business; there's nothing in the law that says you have to take a loss.

I see this more as an educational issue - learn how to cost your work properly and set fees that make a profit, realize that you are an independent contractor and not an employee, understand that you - not the hiring party - are the one to set your fees, etc.

Until NSAs understand that taking more jobs at a fee that will not earn you a profit is just a way to go broke faster, this low-balling situation will continue - and will probably get worse. The low-ballers will keep pushing down the price as long as there are people out there willing to take what they offer. They're looking for the sweet spot - how little can I pay someone to do this job?

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 2/20/13 3:00pm
Msg #456702

May I suggest this as your theme song

Sorry, Grammy, the Devil made me do it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5vIX9zQV7I

Reply by Resilient/MD on 2/20/13 3:14pm
Msg #456705

Re: May I suggest this as your theme song

HANDS DOWN! I'M IN.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 2/20/13 3:40pm
Msg #456709

All of you are in? Fine - easy peasy

Don't take low paying jobs any more...

No blog or bandwagon needed - just a business sense and a spine to stick to your guns.


JMO

Reply by Grammyzoom on 2/20/13 3:57pm
Msg #456710

Re: All of you are in? Fine - easy peasy

It is really easy to say what we professionals already know. Set a bottom line which allows you to earn a decent living and pay your bills whatever you determine that fee to be.

But, that being said there are a lot of notaries out there who don't go on professional forums and are not privy to the 1,000's of discussions involving "lowballers", and they just simply do not know any better.

Reaching out to uninformed notaries and letting them know that there is a way they can say NO and will not starve because of it, is going to be the most daunting task. Finding these people and getting them to understand what they do to everyone in this business when they consistently take signings for $40, $50 and $60.00.

I have spoken to several of the decision makers for some very fine signing services and they are totally behind this. They will benefit if the lowballer's are out of the business and lenders have to seek out services who may charge more per signing, but are able to provide a better quality of signing agents.

This uprising is not meant to change those of you who are already running your business with good sense. It is meant to encourage all of us to root out those who do not know any better and help them to understand that they can change their lives and the way they conduct their business. No one is saying this is going to be easy but it can be done and we have 4 months to do it.

It will not be done by myself, it will be done by many of us giving a little time trying to accomplish something big.

Reply by jba/fl on 2/20/13 5:10pm
Msg #456716

Re: All of you are in? Fine - easy peasy

"we have 4 months to do it."

Why? Then what happens?

Reply by Yoli/CA on 2/20/13 5:14pm
Msg #456718

jba/fl ~

Same thought occurred to me. Then, I went to the link and clicked on "blog". Seems July has been named THE target month. Hence, 4 months.

Reply by MW/VA on 2/20/13 9:21pm
Msg #456775

LMAO, Bob. We know how that revolt turned out,

don't we. ;-)

Reply by CarolF/NC on 2/20/13 5:28pm
Msg #456723

It's not all about newbies. I know people

who have been doing this 8 -15 years and have gone from 150 to 75 a signing as a few have driven down fees. They comply or lose their client. If you work in an area with little competition you are probably safe. Not so when you are competing with 15 notaries. Not all newbies make bad notary signing agents. They make for bad competitors.

Reply by leeinla on 2/20/13 5:56pm
Msg #456732

Don't Like Lowballers

A couple of problems in this profession:

1. XYZ has a lowball signings service on their board. XYZ in a big supplier of new signing agents to this company.
2. XYZ markets the loan signing agent profession as a way to make a quick buck and this is a easy way to make money. It is not.
3. New notaries believe they will take low fees and over time these signing services will increase their fees. I used to have this mentality. I realized that they just want to make more money from you and they will always keep you at a low fee.
4. Most newbies are intimated in accepting these low fees to break into the business.
5. The industry (title cos and lenders) don't realize the importance of a professional signing agent, and that's why they instituted fax backs and pages and pages of redundant instructions.
6. The industry refuses to understand the value of professional signing agents. If we had more respect, these lowballers would not exist.
7. Newbies need to learn how valuable their time should be to them. Newbies need to understand the costs in this business.
8. Sadly, the problem will not go away soon.

My .02 cents.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 2/20/13 6:02pm
Msg #456733

<<<They comply or lose their client.>>>

IMO, then it's bye bye, old client.
I am getting better paying assignments today, albeit fewer.
But, I am making the same amt of money I did back in 2007, with fewer signings.
Go figure.

Reply by MW/VA on 2/20/13 8:07pm
Msg #456754

No thanks. I stand up to lowballers, and won't get

involved in a "movement" that can be construed by the DOJ as price-fixing or forming a union. Be careful, folks, IMO there's some hypocracy going on here.

Reply by leeinla on 2/20/13 8:54pm
Msg #456771

You are right MW. n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 2/20/13 9:45pm
Msg #456777

Try msg. 456742 n/m

Reply by Kenneth Showman on 2/21/13 7:58am
Msg #456798

I'm a newbie with less than 100 signings under my belt. At what level are you a lowballer? I set my standard rate for a closing at 95.00. I seldom can get over 100.00 and often need to drop to 85.00. Is that considered lowballing? If i have 20 - 40 pages with maybe 3 - 5 notarizings, i'll drop my rates into the 50.00 to 60.00 range. Is that considered lowballing? I don't want to be a lowballer, but i can't lose 50% of my business so i can keep the high-end notaries making the big bucks while i just drift away.

Reply by ikando on 2/21/13 8:27am
Msg #456807

Kenneth, have you calculated if you are working at a profit, breaking even, or losing money at the fees you're taking? If you're making a profit, then you're okay to take lesser fees. If you're not, then you're not a business, you're thinking like an employee, and may be making less than minimum wage. I have an hourly rate I want to make, know about how long, from initial contact to dropped package & my record keeping time most jobs should take. Any "offer" that doesn't give me close to my base rate, is rejected. I stay in business, & you can too. It may be tight for a while, but it can be done.

Reply by Grammyzoom on 2/21/13 12:32pm
Msg #456902

THIS IS WHAT I AM WORKING TOWARD!!

Conversation, awareness, and exchange of information from the best to the uninformed.

This uprising is not so much about any kind of boycott but about getting the conversation going and spreading the information so people can fully understand what their options are.

Let's keep talking!