It never ceases to amaze me how many folks get into this business and don’t know ANYTHING about it. All folks seem to know is that someone came to their house with their loan paperwork and on the surface it looks easy enough and they burst out, “Hey, I could do this too! And then proceed to ask; “How do you get into this business?”. And they actually expect you to give them all the little details of the ends and outs of how to get into the business so they can TAKE all of your business. Never, once thinking that this might be improper because why would any of us really want to train our own competition? But some of us do (being nice and all that) but end up regretting it later due to our own demise.
I was reading a notary forum post about how easy we make it look and that we need to stop this because all we are doing is saturating our areas with more and more notaries. It’s all about supply and demand. Lets face it there is no real demand for us notaries in this profession. There is some work but it is being spread to thin and the pay is at an all time low. And those of us that have been in it awhile refuse to work for peanuts. Many have taken part time jobs to supplement there incomes. Many have just thrown in the towel altogether and moved on.
The other contributing factor in over-saturation is that you have several places that offer loan signing classes with no regard that they are consistently over saturating the market with notary signing agents that will NEVER see any work. Just this week alone I have spoken with notaries in various parts of the county that have been at it for months and still no work. Or if they do have any at all it is in limited supply and the pay is paltry to say the least.
Moral of the story is that you need to check out whether there is a real need for signing agents in YOUR area. And whether this is a professional you can grow and profit from BEFORE you lay out the cash to get started.
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Thank you for this post. It’s timing is uncanny. Someone that I did a signing with a little over a month ago has just set up shop in my immediate area. I have been guarded in the past sharing information about my job but for some reason, I didn’t see this person as a threat. Reflecting back on her demeanor during the signing, it’s very clear what her intent was. She was standoffish and rude most of the time but did ask specific questions such as, “How long have you been doing this?” “Did you have to get any training?” “Do you have a website?” and “Is this your last one today?” I’ve had other people ask similar questions but nothing has materialized.
Comment by Maria Jannette Moore — March 30, 2020 @ 3:45 pm
I did that with a woman 45 minutes away, 1 hr. away from my home, bc nobody else seems to want to drive there to notarize. I emailed her a few links, but she never followed up on it. People talk a good talk. Our family is a foursome of problem solvers and we often respond to people who wish to do something or wish to complain about a problem, but never want to solve their problem, or pursue another interest. No harm, no foul. Btw, the NSA who you have listed, drove an hr to our office in 2013 to witness our refi, and got me into this. I really don’t compete much with him, or he with me, but I DO recommended him when I am unavailable for a signing in his town.
Comment by betty — May 1, 2020 @ 4:15 pm
I should have added that when I started in March, 2013, I had several printers and a fax machine and an in-town office. I didn’t have to invest in anything but paper and more toner. Now, as the Office Manager, I have replaced them and now I have 7 printers between home and DH’s office, and 3 of them are 4-in-1’s.
(I believe in backup printing.)
Comment by betty — May 1, 2020 @ 4:26 pm