Mark Wills advises notary loan signing agents to skip complex pricing strategies and stick with simple flat fees instead. TRID disclosures changed how fees work, and he explains what actually works based on years in the loan signing business.
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I'm frequently asked, should I adopt a pricing strategy for my loan signing business? There's a lot of information about having a comprehensive notary signing agent fee strategy. Some resources and blogs tell you to set different fees based on signing time, driving time, printing time, number of pages printed, number of people at the signing, or even what time of the month it is. So the real question is, do fee strategies work for loan signing agents? And the answer is absolutely not. Let me start off by saying that I am a notary public loan signing agent that started my career working for signing services. I currently own a signing service and I've worked directly with escrow officers for nearly 15 years. So I say this with great confidence. Pricing strategies do not work for signing agents and rarely work for any business at all. Allow me to explain. Pricing strategies typically only work for services and products that have an inelastic demand. In other words, you have no choice but to pay a higher price because you literally have no other option. Think hotel rooms in Vegas. During slow times, hotels charge under $100 to try to win your business. But when things pick up, let's say New Year's for instance, that same room could be $300 or more. Since you have no other choices, you either stay in Vegas for $300 a night or you do not. However, when it comes to loan signing agents, signing services have choices. Escrow officers have choices, Mortgage officers have have choices. So having a sliding fee structure based on how busy it is like the Vegas hotel rooms simply isn't the best strategy for notary public loan signing agents. I mean, that's if you want to stay busy. I mean, what if your hairstylist told you that since he's busy he's going to charge you double for the exact same haircut? What if your favorite restaurant charged you 25 more dollars for dinner just because it was the 30th of the month? There are more hairdressers and restaurants in your town and you would just pick another restaurant or hair status that does not have a sliding fee schedule. Signing agents are no different. If you want to charge more for each and every line item, there will be a notary public loan signing agent who has a simple pricing structure and will get that signing over you. I have some notaries who want to charge more per signing during rush hour. I have some who want to charge more if they have to travel more than 20 miles. And then I have many, many more loan signing agents that do not adjust their pricing at all. Show me a notary public loan signing agent who has a comprehensive fee structure and I will show you a slow signing agent. That's just the truth. It is bad advice to adopt a fee schedule as a loan signing agent if your goal is to be successful and busy as a notary public loan signing agent, it's important to understand that signing services and escrow officers or want to work with notary public loan signing agents that are reliable and having an easy to understand consistent fee structure is all part of being reliable. But do you want to know what the main reason is not to have a fee schedule? It is the new TRID disclosures. Once escrow and the lender has disclosed a signing fee to the borrower on the final closing disclosure or cd, they cannot change it. It is the law. So if you tell an escrow officer you're going to charge an extra $25 on a rush hour signing, they have no choice but to move on because a loan signing fee has already been disclosed. Secondly, if you start asking for more money, you come off as an uneducated notary public loan signing agent who knows nothing about TRID disclosures. So here is my advice. Pick a fee that you are happy with and stick with it. If you are a signing service notary, choose an acceptable fee in my opinion of 90 to $100. If you work for escrow companies, I suggest $150 per signing. Yes, some signings will be a doozy, but on the other hand, some will be super easy. In my experience, it all averages out at the end. Is it necessarily fair that signing services or escrow offices will pay you the same fee to do a signing where you have to pick up and drop off loan documents? Or if there's three signers versus two. Or if a signing takes two hours because there's over 150 pages. I mean, at the end of the day, sometimes you come out ahead and sometimes you don't. But on the flip side, do you ask for less money when the loan documents are only 80 pages? Or if the signing only takes you 30 minutes? Or if the signing is down the street from your house? I'm pretty sure that you do not. The bottom line is having a simple flat fee pricing structure will win you more signings than you will lose by having a comprehensive fee schedule, which means more money in your pocket. And that's why we're all doing this. The only time I feel it's appropriate to charge more is if you're doing a first and second loan. I advise charging a signing service an additional $50 for a second or if you're working directly with escrow company $75 for a second mortgage and I should also clarify, I am not saying to accept low ball $75 signings or driving two hours to every single appointment. What I am saying is have a flat fee that you're comfortable with and then don't be afraid to say no if the fee doesn't meet your needs. Signing services and escrow offices want to work with someone that they know they can count on. As in any business, reliability is the key. No surprises. Consistent pricing and flawless work are equally as important as a signing agent. Show me a notary public loan signing agent with a simple fee structure and I promise you I'll show you a notary public loan signing agent who always gets the first call or text when a signing is available. If you are told you should have a pricing schedule, you are getting the wrong advice. Learn to become an expert signing agent with my Loan Signing System course. Even if you are an experienced loan signing agent, you'll learn how to take your business to the next level. I guarantee it. Click the link on this video and get started. Today I am Mark. I teach the Loan Signing System and I look forward to helping you become a top producing and grossing organization Loan Signing Agent.
