You’ve probably seen a lot of ads that try to convince you into becoming a notary and loan signer. The ads claim the profession to be profitable, you can work whenever you’d like, pick your job, make time for your children and more. Although they may initially sound appealing, today there are numerous things to consider before jumping into the field.

At one point, the idea of a mobile notary signing agent was a fantastic idea, things have changed dramatically. This is due in large part to our ailing economy and the housing market. The housing sector is in a state of distress. A lot of companies which build or sell, offer services and provide mortgages to the housing sector are facing the possibility of closing. If you have any mortgage brokers you know you can consider for a moment “Are they in good shape and performing well?”. ” Are they moving on to another job?”. If you have any of these people, you’ll likely respond “Yes”. What do you think that means?

The same issues that confront those who are facing these issues also affect non-mobile notary signers. As the housing market has dried up, there are only a handful of people buying homes and virtually no one is refinancing. This means that mobile notary signing agencies suffer since there is no loan to be signed. The mobile notaries in the market are cutting their fees to boost business at the time that gas prices are at an highest ever. Making more money for less.

Signings for loans have become rare. The amount of money offered for signings is extremely low, most of them offering $50 for signing. If you take into account the duration to print and download documents, you will need two duplicates of your loan application are required. Make an appointment, then sign them with the person who is borrowing, then prepare and drop off the documents with the courier company, then invoice the escrow business and then wait for the money to be paid, that usually takes about up to a month. To some, it’s not worthwhile.

Another factor to consider when deciding to become notary is the annual cost. If you decide to market your own website, you should consider the cost of domain registration, hosting cost (about $100) and cell phone usage annual insurance against errors and omissions ($150 plus) Then advertising must be continuous. Since the business environment is generally slow notaries, they fall victim by companies like the “notary directory” business. They promise greater exposure and, consequently, more business for notaries who join their directory. The cost of the listing in a directory may be as low as $19.95 per year, and can go up to $100 per month. It doesn’t stop at that point, since listing in one directory appears to be enough. A notary public is close to us that is featured in every directory available online. The writer is amazed by the amount of cash the woman must be spending every month! At a minimum, at least $300. The author used advertising on a well-known notary directory for a single year to test. Advertising on the directory’s top spot was 600 dollars. They also promised to increase business calls. This never came to pass and the $600 went to waste. There are many businesses who will ask for your money to promise of greater business.

One of the most annoying directory sites is one that allows the user to on the site offering a the price for a particular notary job. This sends out a general email sent to all notaries within the region so that they are able to bid on the job. The only thing that this will require is that you’re in front of your computer, waiting for a response, and then use your phone to call the potential client only to find out that your bid was not competitive with the previous notary’s bid. What a hassle for the client and the time and money for the failed notary. Another site is available where the customer can click the button and it will contact your listing on the notary directory. If you don’t answer the phone in a timely manner it could be working with a client who is paying and that prospective client is still on the site and could go down the list until the next notary in order to locate the person who can answer right away. Yikes! It must be a stressful time for both the notary and client.

Another misconception associated with notary public service is that you are able to choose your working hours and jobs. But ….that is not accurate. If you’re planning to be an mobile notary public you have to complete the work whenever the client wants you to. This is 9:00 am when your kids are in school or at 9:00 pm, at night, when you usually get the kids ready for sleep. If there comes a moment that you’re not available for the client, and they must make a call to another person, guess who they’ll call next time they require an urgent mobile notary? You’re right …. to the public notary can count on to be there when they need them.

The author does not intend to be negative about the mobile public signing industry. It’s only that it’s sad to witness people getting excited at the thought of launching the new field with expectations only to be utterly disappointed by what companies that tout the lucrative prospect of notary jobs don’t disclose.

If you’re awestruck by this and what you hope to become, then conduct some research and figure out the cost and the time required and the other requirements that notaries are saying about the business of your region. Be real. If you don’t plan to work for a regular hour working on your website for notary purposes or do not know how to build and optimize search engine results for your website, don’t expect your website to generate business. If you think that directories for notaries are going to only bring in business, then you’re likely to be disappointed. It could be that the only ones making money from this business today are the ones running the notary directories.

The majority of notaries who do not work regularly on their websites or marketing and who do not answer any phone call, regardless of day or time they aren’t working these days. If this is your desire, then proceed cautiously, keeping your eyes open, and best wishes to all of you.

Joyce Laroche