Posted by Laurily on 2/9/13 8:43am
Msg #454955

Full or Part Time

Just curious on how many of my fellow colleagues here are full time and part time. I am part time. I can understand though to those who do this full time and its slow...very stressful. I hope this year proves to be a good and profitable one to you all.

Reply by ToniK on 2/9/13 9:03am
Msg #454958

Im full time. I dont mind the slow part of the month. Its beats working a job. I work hard and stay busy 2-3 weeks out of a month and 1-2 weeks a month is like a vacation/time off without having to request and get approval for time off. I get alot done like clean house, wash car, shopping, training, create new marketing materials, sleep. lol I make enough a month to weather the slow times.

Reply by Laurily on 2/9/13 9:08am
Msg #454961

That sounds great Toni! I wish I could do this without another job in the picture...but it doesn't support me financially to go full time and the whole needing medical benefits thing...but I do always find myself saying I wish I could just do this and nothing else..love my NSA business...yes there are times when its stressful but not like what I have at the other job...this is a rewarding job and I like my control over the schedule...

Reply by ToniK on 2/9/13 9:18am
Msg #454965

I understand. Yes medical benefits are important. Luckily for me my husband has a great medical benefits plan so Im on his. I was forced into making this fulltime because I was laid off my job back in 2011. So it was a blessing that the business picked back up and my husband was paying all the household bills while I was building up to being self sufficiency. I really love this business and the stress I get from this job is so minimal compared to my previous career.

Reply by Laurily on 2/9/13 9:38am
Msg #454969

I agree! It is a lot different stress then the regular mon-fri 9-5 jobs. I will have to look at all my options before I consider jumping into full time...its so tempting though...I do have options whereas my husband has benefits also but I have BETTER benefits...so I just gotta work out the numbers....by the time I turn 55 though I will get a pension from present job -and right now its about my health and what makes me happy anymore and my present full time job is not doing that anymore...I've come to rethink how I will let people treat me at my age and not letting the stress get to me anymore... and if a borrower is angry or upset its def nothing to do with me but of course sometimes they take it out on us-thats fine because I dont have to work with that borrower everyday its usually a one time thing for each borrower-anyway happy Saturday already had a signing cancelled today due to no cert funds and the wintry weather here in the East...

Reply by 101livescan on 2/9/13 9:54am
Msg #454971

Do a lot of research, Laurily, don't jump from one hot bed to another. Make sure you'll have enough to warrant the unevent income stream you'll experience as an NSA. Some weeks are great, others nada. Weather can impede business flow/revenue opportunities. Once you retire, it will be a great gig...until then you can market yourself for evenings/weekends/holidays.

When I went into this full time in 2003, I had been laid off from a full time job when the company downsized and moved all brainiacs to SFBay area. I did not want to relocate. I got lucky. My first great connection was with Montecito Title offices. During 2002, doing this part time, I took two weeks off for vacation and did this full time. I couldn't believe how busy I was. My 80 year old father came out from Florida and rode shotgun with me a couple of times...everyone loved him and his "war stories" as a Naval Intelligence officer for 30 years. While he said he would wait in the car, the borrowers insisted Dad be invited in for coffee (or a martini)! I was doing all the work...Dad was having a ball. My dad said I think you've hit pay dirt, darlin So my heart wasn't broken when the company laid me off and paid me six months severance. Had to go with the flow.

I don't have a pension, dang!

Reply by CJ on 2/9/13 10:21am
Msg #454972

I'm full time. My husband is also self-employed full time. (He's a metal fabricator.) Neither one of us get benefits except for what we purchase ourselves. I graduated from paralegal vocational school, and I was having a hard time getting a regular job, even though I was the top of my class. My stepmother, who was a mobile notary at the time, recommended I do this until "something better comes along". That was 12 years ago. Sometimes the work is so overwhelming and crazy, and other times I am so glad that I am at home at not rushing to work every morning like the nine-to-fivers. But you can bet: we are both working on those holidays when everyone else is off, since we both get paid by the job. The best thing about being self employed is you get to pick which 70 hours a week that you want to work. Bye - gotta print docs for my Saturday appointments. (My husband is up and getting ready for work too.)

Reply by NVLSlady/VA on 2/11/13 5:33pm
Msg #455303

"The best thing about being self employed is . . ."

<<"you get to pick which 70 hours a week that you want to work." >> LIKE

After facing a health "crisis," I said goodbye to my day job. The job itself was not too stressful, but the energy required to commute, navigate the Huge campus and then actually do some work after arriving was more than I could handle (though I "faked" it for a long while!). My work record was such an excellent one, It was more than I could endure putting a blemish on my performance rating (reality has since "kicked in" as I look at my Cbr score). And entrepreneurship was something I really wanted - before I got "old."

It has not been an easy road, relying on notary income and I wish I had been working as a notary while I was Employed. Sometimes my other "talents" come to the rescue - like when I'm doing IC work for a mortgage broker.

(My entrepreneur options for younger workers with marginal health: chronic-smiles.org had to be put on hold temporarily; but hope to find a net savvy social-preneur to help me get it back online!)

Reply by Laurily on 2/9/13 1:02pm
Msg #454984

101-thanks and I def am not looking to quit my day job anytime soon (lol) I have been doing this part time for quite a long time due to my full time job being in the way-lol and that job just isn't what it used to be and I am definitely fortunate enough to still have decent job with a pension I never discount that ever because I certainly know others are worse off...I have to say I truly love my NSA business more then anything right now because its always different never the same people (well almost never) and I LOVE research and this job is always keeping me on my toes with researching, keeping up and learning (learning even after 13 years of this).

Reply by Clem/CA on 2/9/13 11:07am
Msg #454974

Full or Part Time

I'm Full time, part of the time.

Reply by Saul Leibowitz on 2/9/13 11:56am
Msg #454981

Clem, well said. Title company I ran closed in 2010 because the investors did not like the risk in the market. So, I got some locals and started looking for nationals to hire me to do closings. [This because nobody was hiring in-office staff at the time.] I keep almost as busy as I want to be, try not to do more than 4 per day and prefer to hold it to 3 for logistical reasons, get to shop and dine with my wife, not trip on her piano students, and enjoy some of the things we were always too busy to do before.
So I wish the best to all of you, full or part time.

Reply by Q_in_Sac/CA on 2/9/13 2:03pm
Msg #454986

Currently it's my only job. Been in the "game" Since May 2012. Sharp learning curve, but managing it. Looking at other opportunity's to expand my business and take pointers from the "vets" on this forum. Just take your time and set goals that are reasonable. And u will make it.

Reply by BossLadyMD on 2/9/13 5:07pm
Msg #454997

I'm a Govt Retiree and I've been FT for the past 6 years :)

My government pension is nice for when it's slow and NSA work keeps me busy

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 2/9/13 9:31pm
Msg #455023

Re: I'm a Govt Retiree and I've been FT for the past 6 years :)

Im full time..My husband is about to join me full time too..I would not want to be in any other type of business..I absolutely love what I do and hope there is more work than we all can do..

Reply by Kenneth Pallante on 2/10/13 1:10pm
Msg #455058

I have to tell you that here in the Kansas City area - it has been awful. 99% of the calls I get offer $25 to $75 for a loan closing -- that is sometmes 50 miles from my home. Though I have been on Notary Rotary many years, I have not seen enough business or money offered to make it worth my while (as a full time job). I turn down most offers that pay so little. I would, literally, lose money on these jobs. Most of the companies that call me say: "That is ok, we will keep calling until we find someone desperate enough to take what we are paying."

Again, this is the Kansas City area. Do not quit your day job!

Reply by COpink on 2/11/13 9:05am
Msg #455124

I am full time. My dad has been building the business since 2004. So I got lucky when I stepped into this business. However, the slower times of the month stress me out not knowing if I will even hold enough signings to pay my bills after I put money away for taxes.

IMO - don't quit your day job. The work sometimes does not come around as frequently as you'd like it to. The only reason I am in this full time without a day job is because I moved halfway across the country and did not have any job prospects.

Reply by Yowheelz on 2/11/13 11:39am
Msg #455156

Full time for me and part-time for husband

Enjoy the first 2 weeks of each month and work my butt off the last two weeks. Lucky to have a husband with a flexible job so at the EOM we can really pack on the work.