Loan Signing Agent as a Side Hustle?

Question

Hey BP Users,

So I have just went through the entire process and recently became a Loan Signing Agent in Ohio. Finally! I'm still in college so I saw this is a good opportunity to make good pay on super flexible hours, to help save up for a down payment on my first property after I graduate. I have yet to do my first signing, but I'm hoping to get a few under my belt before the end of this month.

I was just curious if any other members have gone down the loan signing path, and if so, if you had any helpful tips to have a successful part time gig?

I figured at the very least it would help me have a better understanding of the loan signing/home buying process.

Thanks!

Josh Cummings

Alison Wise · Answer

Hi Joshua! I started my loan signing agent journey about a year ago and wish I would have done it years ago! It's such a great way to make good money either as a side hustle or full-time.

If you haven't taken the NNA course for Notary Signing Agents, I would suggest that, as it's kind of the industry standard and a lot of escrow and title companies require it. That said, it doesn't do the greatest job of teaching you how to actually make money doing signings.

Some really good advice I heard when getting started was to make sure you know your state's notary laws inside out before getting started. We're notaries first and loan signing agents second.

Not sure if you've heard of Loan Signing System (LSS) that Mark Wills teaches or the Notary2Pro (N2P) course. I've taken the LSS one and found it incredibly helpful in knowing how to market myself to Escrow offices, and overall just knowing the process better. The LSS Facebook group is also great as people are overall very supportive and helpful with questions. It is a little bit of hype, but there's a ton of great content. I haven't taken Notary2Pro, but have heard really good things about it as well.

Another tip is sign up for as many notary databases as you can do for free (don't bother with any that ask you to pay for a membership... most are scams and there's plenty of work on the ones you don't have to pay for). And then sign up for as many signing services as you can! There are literally hundreds of signing services, so youre likely to be busy within a month or two of signing up. Make sure you know the difference between a database and signing service... for example Snapdocs is a database, but companies like Coast2Coast are signing services that USE Snapdocs to find notaries.

And I agree that it's a great way to learn about the closing process for real estate.

Best wishes getting started! Keep us posted on how it goes!

Joshua M Cummings · Answer

@Alison Wise That was a ton of great advice, thanks so much for taking the time to respond!!

So becoming a loan signing agent, I actually did use the NNA course and it was a little dry but had a lot of helpful information to it. From everything I gathered it was a fundamental course to take, which seems like that is holding true.

I definitely need to become well-versed in Ohio Notary Laws, as they are no doubt important to the entire process, especially to avoid any type of legal trouble. Sticking aside some time each week should help out with this, I just need to commit to it.

Also, I first heard about Mark's Loan Signing program before becoming an agent, but I found so many back and fourth reviews on the program that I figured I would do with the NNA course first. Hearing another good review from you definitely temps me to check it out in the future though.

Hopefully soon I can register in an abundance of some databases and signing services! I'm still slightly nervous about getting started because I feel that I don't know enough to do a signing by myself. With more studying/reviewing of the material I already have and using some more online sources, I definitely know I'll be ready soon!I'll update as I move along in the process as well.

Thanks again Alison for taking the time to give me such sound advice. I really do appreciate it!