Chapter 1. Introduction to the Mobile Notary Business.

1.1 What is a mobile notary?

1.2 Where do they travel to?

1.3 Why become one?

1.4 What is it like to be one?

1.1 What is a mobile notary? A mobile notary is a notary public who is mobile and travels to clients. Typically a mobile notary goes to anywhere from one to eight places per day. A mobile notary may charge the regular fee that notaries may charge in their state plus a travel fee. There are no legal regulations regarding travel fees. In California, many mobile notaries charge $30 for travel plus $10 per signature for example. Sometimes they charge extra for excessive waiting time. Sometimes they give clients a price break if the number of signatures is large. Some notaries only do local calls within several miles of their place of business or residence. Others often travel more than 50 miles on the average job. It depends on what kind of clients you have.

1.2 Where do mobile notaries travel to? It depends on who the clients are. 80% of the volume of mobile notary work is loan signing. In a loan signing you would travel to the borrower's home perhaps and sign on the dining room table. Sometimes, borrowers prefer to sign at a restaurant if their house is undergoing repairs or for various other reasons. Occasionally the borrowers prefer to sign at work. There is always plenty of business notarizing documents at hospitals. People in hospitals frequently need powers of attorney notarized as well as property deeds. Hospital signings can take a long time and notaries may experience a variety of problems doing this kind of service. People in jails also need notaries for powers of attorney and property deeds. Offices who don't have a notary in their staff can be regular customers of a mobile notary. Mobile notaries go to a variety of places.

1.3 Why become a mobile notary? Being a mobile notary is a way to:

a. Make a nice income.

b. Maintain a flexible schedule.

c. Maintain your autonomy.

d. Be on the road several hours a day. Full time mobile notaries make anywhere from $30,000 to $80,000 per year. The majority probably make around $50,000 per year. You can take a vacation anytime you want. But, if your customers sense that you are not there for them, they might go elsewhere. You can accept jobs early in the morning if you are an early bird. Or, late at night if you are a night owl. You can choose to work weekends if you like. You can set your own prices. If you don't like to do jobs on Saturday, you can charge double. Perhaps somebody will pay, you never know. Mobile notaries drive a lot and talk on cell phones a lot. If you enjoy these two activities, you may have found the career for you.

1.4 What is it like being a mobile notary? If you enjoy driving and being on a cell phone a lot, you will like this job. Like other business there are good days and days where things get messed up. Your ability and grace at preventing and solving screw-ups is your key to success in this business. Generally, if you want to keep your clients, you have to be very accessible by phone and very quick and responsive when it comes down to communicating and getting things done. This is a very time sensitive industry. There is no room for procrastination or negligence. If you do loan signing, the beginnings of months can have little or no business, while the ends of months can have overwhelming quantities of work. Learning how to coordinate and balance your work load is a must.