Posted by 101livescan on 7/9/13 6:50pm
Msg #476136

STAR RATING SYSTEM IN SC

I love that you can sort all the companies in SC by stars. The 4 and 5 star companies are clear winners. They have been around long enough and they're earned their stellar ratings, just as the 1, 2 and 3 star rated companies. (Not all three star companies are risky, I might add.)

When a low, slow, non paying company calls me, I immediately know it because I've assigned a ringtone from the Dragnet series, and I disregard it. When it rings and I'm in a signing, my clients will often ask me, what is that ringtone for, and I tell them that is so that I don't waste my time speaking with clients who have no intention of treating notaries fairly, if they pay at all.

Really, companies do that? Yes, ma'am. Just the Facts ma'am!

I am proceeding very cautiously in the coming months and doing my due diligence, making sure I don't work for any new start up signing service that has no rating because the owner just took the XYZ seminar in Austin last month on how to start a signing service. Especially given that many companies will be dropping like flies due to the change in business these last
30 days since interest rates took a major hike. I'm hoping all of you new folks will too. You do not need the experience of not getting paid for your hard work.

I just love the $50 offers, don't you? Doesn't begin to pay for fixed expenses, nor for the number of notarizations you're performing. With many borrowers taking title in the name of their family trust, there is always the trust certificate, sometimes in duplicate, and the usual suspects: DOT, E&O, Occupancy Affidavit, Name/Signature Affidavits, ID Verification Affidavit, no to mention title affidavits...list goes on.

So how does $50 even begin to be fair, or $95 for that matter, and fax backs on top of a low fee? REALLY?

Well, what would happen if we all stood together and firmly, flat out refused to fill these orders?

Time is too precious, and if we're off doing this kind of BS work, we're missing the bigger opportunities.

Reply by droman_IL on 7/9/13 7:38pm
Msg #476141

well said! n/m

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 7/9/13 8:36pm
Msg #476149

Ditto! n/m

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 7/9/13 9:50pm
Msg #476160

Does this make any sense?

Great post, Cheryl! Additionally, I'd like to express some personal feelings I've had in the 10 years I've been doing loan signings and see if others have any idea what I'm talking about. I have ... as we all have ... had our share of being used and abused by even the best SSs when things have gone south (blame everthing on the notary, right?missing pages, irate borrowers, etc.), but we always swim out of it one way or the other. But one thing I have never done is work for a low baller (at least not for very long!) .... not because it's obvious that I'd be working for free, running my car and me ragged for little or nothing in return, but because I felt personally insulted ... I thought more of myself and my place in this world to be taken advantage of. I always felt that if I had to sink to their level and allow them to degrade me, that I should change course and do something else and at least have some self-respect left.

I was SHOCKED when I first became a loan signers how rough and scummy this business could be... but I also recognized that not everybody in it was like that, and many hiring agencies and schedulers could be dealt with in a somewhat professional and trusting manner.

So I truly do not understand the desperation many, many NSAs feel about willilngly accepting lousy fees .... while making the hiring agencies richer and richer. Forget about your bottom line. What about your self-esteem, your self-worth? Or do so many just accept as part of life that they have to wallow in the cesspools where these outfits operate?

I know we always say "It's not about the money," (LOL), but in a way that's true. If the money is so low that they are just humiliating both you and the NSA profession and laughing behind our back all the way to the bank, what does that say about us as individuals?
What does that say about how you feel about yourself? Just curious.

Reply by BevTX on 7/9/13 10:03pm
Msg #476161

Re: Does this make any sense?

I got a call yesterday for a reverse mortgage, two signers, edocs, fax back AND drop----for $80. I said that would be at least $125. She said "I'll see if I can get that approved and call you back." No call back. Somebody did it--and I didn't lose money.

Reply by 101livescan on 7/10/13 12:37am
Msg #476167

Re: Does this make any sense?

Good for you, Bev...let someone else anguish over all that drama. These should pay a minimum $200 and be lucky to talk you into fax backs.

Reply by 101livescan on 7/10/13 12:32am
Msg #476166

Re: Does this make any sense?

I'm with you, Goldgirl. More than this, my goal is to stay profitable. Obviously, these deals need to close successfully and timely. I'm not at all afraid to ask for what I'm worth in this arena. I won't waste a nanosecond letting a SS know their fee is too low. No time...I need to work for only the best. If we as veterans in this biz can impart our modality to the new people coming on line, we've done our part to pass on the baton. I would hate to see new NSA's lose a foothold in this business that we've worked to hard to establish.

It's not about the money, it's about the profession.

Reply by Christine/OK on 7/10/13 7:58am
Msg #476176

Re: Does this make any sense?

Great posts!

Agree that it is about the profession, but also about the money, as stated above we provide a service and should be paid accordingly for the services/time required to perform the service.

For fax backs, truly can't do a flat fee in most cases because each company has different docs they want fax/scanned. Usually, I do not need to fax/scan though. Also, I take into consideration the time it takes to return to the office, disassemble the doc package, fax/scan, re-collate the package, AND the additional gas/time to leave the office again to drop the docs. jmo Is that how you do it? Thanks!

Reply by Erin Garrison on 7/10/13 10:30am
Msg #476189

So as a newcomer

I have been a Notary for almost 10 years, in the banking industry. I was recently laid off and looking to use my Notary as self employment.

This thread has been very helpful, but as you comment about the newcomers not taking the low offers, can you give a good understanding of how we should charge? It sounds like we should take no less than $125 per loan signing, what travel distance is included in that and when should you charge more?

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 7/10/13 10:51am
Msg #476191

Erin, that's something only you can answer.

For me, $125 is my "home county" fee - but I can travel 45-50 miles round trip and stay within my home county. I don't have to deal with immense rush-hour problems - many people who do won't go farther than 15-20 miles for that $125.00. For some, $100 is acceptable.

Only you know your area, your expenses to do the job and your needs as far as profit are concerned. But let me ask you this - based on your background, would you rather do 5 jobs per week, at $125/job, and earn $625.00 for those 5 jobs, or would you rather have to do 8-9 jobs to earn that $625.00 - it's called working smarter, not harder.

You need to work up a business plan to help you decide your fees.

JMO