Notary Signing Agent Jobs - What Can I do, How Much Can I get Paid?

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As you guys have hopefully seen while exploring my website, my perspective on this business is going to be focused primarily on getting independent notary signing agent jobs. The main reason why I want to focus on getting independent jobs is because the pay for the amount of work is one of the best work from home opportunities I've ever experienced.
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In this article, I'll help explain what kind of notary signing agent jobs you can try to get when you earn your commission, what you might do on those jobs, and how much you can get paid.

Traditional Notary Work

In my experience, most of the time when I mention that I'm a notary signing agent, people think about traditional notary work, which of course is the same thing that I thought about before I knew about becoming a notary signing agent. In traditional notary work, you are simply required to witness a signature.

That witnessing might cover different requirements according to the legal documents, you might just be acknowledging something specific, or documenting that a person is swearing or affirming to a statement. You might also just be certifying that a copy is a true and accurate representation of an original.

In traditional notary work you would put your commission and skills at work wherever there would be a need to deter fraud when official documentation is needed. Some examples include adoption paperwork, legal contracts, memorandums of understanding or leases.

The maximum fees that a notary can charge are usually dictated by your state. In my state, Oregon, you can only charge a maximum of $10 per signature witnessed. But, if a document package has 3 different notarizations, you can charge $10 for each one.
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Also, you can add travel fees if you are meeting a client, as long as the fee is posted in advance of the meeting. If you refer to my notary service page on this website, you'll see that I have posted a fee schedule to try to accommodate anyone that needs a notary for traditional notary work. Including the travel fee can make traditional notary work very worthwhile! 

Employment for Notary Signing Agents

During my state required notary training, there was a lot of mention of being employed by businesses that may need routine notary work, and it can be included as part of your job duties if it's something your employer requires. Therefore, it's safe to assume that your notary commission may allow you get ahead of an applicant pool that doesn't have their notary commissions in place already.

In my research for notary signing agent jobs and saw that there are administrative jobs listed on indeed.com for some banks, and some legal firms that requested that applicants have their notary commission already. I also know places like the UPS store have notaries on site. The employees there help people with packages but also complete notarizations as part of their standard duties.
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I haven't spoken with anyone specifically who uses their notary commission this way, so I'm not entirely sure how much money you can expect doing this kind of work. 

Notary Loan Signing Agent

I think that this is the category that everyone who earns their notary commission should strive for! A notary signing agent is tasked with helping individuals walk through various real estate transactions, including purchases, refinances, reverse mortgages, and home equity lines of credit. You are expected to be a professional extension of the escrow officer, the loan officer and the signing agency that hired you.

Click here to learn more about becoming a Notary Loan Signing Agent, and earn between $75-$200 per appointment!

Buyers will have questions when you sit down with them. They may have A LOT of questions. The biggest loan document package I have seen was 166 pages... that leave a LOT of questions for a confused buyer. And sometimes the buyer is confused!

You need to be personable, and be able to navigate complex requirements set in place by the city, state and federal government while making sure that the documents are completely filled out, and that there are no missed signatures, initials or dates in the entire package.

A loan signing agent is an impartial, but educated part of the closing process that is able to help a client understand of the information provided in the documents, but cannot influence the client or provide legal advice.

Being an expert notary loan signing agent, you are able to reassure borrowers who have questions by being able to find the answers to any question that they may have in the loan documents. You also need to know when it's appropriate to call and ask for help if the question the buyer has isn't able to be answered.

The escrow officer and the loan officer are on your team, and play an integral part in getting problems solved when they come up. My husband and I have both experienced problems in the field with documents having the wrong wording, or the wrong numbers on them and the escrow officer was able to get things fixed up and help the buyer feel reassured that the right things were going to be done in the end, and their transaction was going to go just how they had hoped.

And in terms of pay, this one seems to give the best value per hour. In my business, I'm striving for a part-time income to meet certain goals for our family. I've gotten paid at the lowest end of $50 for an appointment, but it only took about 20 minutes with the client. My husband earned $135 for his highest paying appointment so far, and it took 40 minutes with the client!
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Our mentor Mark Wills says that once you start doing direct business for escrow officers you can expect to greatly increase your income because you stop splitting the notary fee with the signing services. I've seen some agents report up to $350 for a signing, or earning up to $1000 per day!

Do What's Best for YOU!

As you can see, there are several ways that you can put your notary commission to work, earning you varying levels of income for your time. In my opinion, starting an independent small business where you can serve your own needs, make your own schedule and serve your community.

Ultimately, you need to focus on the things that best work for your life, your family and your goals. If getting an administrative job where you can put your commission to work, or focusing on traditional notary work ends up aligning perfectly with your goals... just take action, go out and do it!

What are your experiences as a traditional notary, a notary employed by a business or a notary loan signing agent? Leave a comment below and share your experience!