Waiting is hard. #waitingsucks. Especially when it involves income. There is plenty you can do while waiting for your notary license.
Waiting isn't for everyone. In this day in age most don't have to wait for very long for anything. We as a society have everything on quick order. Unfortunately they do not have door dash for licenses, so you will need to join every notary in the waiting game.
Don't fret. There is a lot of homework that will need to be done after you submit your notary license application to your state. You will want to be ready to start your job the minute you get your license in the mail or in your email inbox. Some of the homework is a must and some is optional but recommended. After all, it worked for me and many others that I have helped. So let's get started!
Get your space ready and order supplies
You can hop on over and read about things an organized notary should do to prep your office space and get organized. You'll need special supplies and some you will have to wait to order once you have your license number (stamp).
Get a dual tray laser printer
The best printer you could get to make your job really easy is a dual tray laser printer. If it has scanning capabilities even better. The dual tray will allow you to print legal and letter sized papers simultaneously. It's amazing.
When I first started I had to print all the letter sized papers first then load the legal size and flip through the papers to insert the legal papers where they went. NOT the most efficient use of my time! Or yours, so just don't do it, unless you have to. #pinchingpennies
Order a background check and NNA certification
To work with most title and escrow or third party companies that match you with title and escrow you will need to provide a background check. There are a lot of places that you can order to have one done and it ranges in cost from about $30 - $70. I recommend however that you get the best bang for your buck #juststartingout and get your NNA certification at the same time.
Why?
Having your NNA certification will put you a step ahead of the rest of the notaries without it. It includes an exam to test your knowledge as a signing agent and provides some assurance to escrow companies that you know what you are doing. Even if you haven't had any experience yet. The added bonus is that your profile will be listed for a year on their signing agent website and it makes a difference in how many jobs you get offered. The background check and certification is a total of $70. You can find that here.
Get E&O or general liability insurance
You protect your house, car and health with insurance. You will need to protect yourself from law suits and claims against you as well. You are an independent contractor and will be 100 % liable if you royally mess up through reputational harm, third party damage, mistakes made during your professional services, etc. You can read up on what exactly general liability insurance is at theharford.com.
Insurance ranges in cost depending on how much coverage you want. I went the crazy mile and had a $1,000,000 insurance policy and paid about $30 a month for it. You can get E&O or general liability insurance through most insurance carriers like State farm, Farmers, etc. Check with your insurance provider to see what they can offer you.
Make your Snapdocs profile
What is Snapdocs?
Snapdocs is a digital mortgage closing solution for eClosings, hybrid closings and wet closings. They connect signing agents with escrow to complete loan signings. Creating your profile will allow them to find you and send you job offers. You can go to this link to create your profile for free.
Snapdocs has some very good resources to navigate their website starting with these:
Order business cards
Working as a signing agent doesn't necessarily mean that you need business cards since most of your jobs will come through Snapdocs or another platform. Some signers may ask if you have a card and they may refer you to friends for simple notarial acts or they may want to ask for you in the future.
A recommendation/tip that I was given as a notary loan signing agent was to place a business card inside the package at the end of a signing before I sealed it up to mail to title and escrow. My card would then be in the hands of the title and escrow agent for the future when they are in need of a notary agent!
In summary
There are also many more companies and platforms to sign up with and you can do some of it before you get your license. Once you have your license you can login to those sites and upload your credentials and get started working! Most of all, have fun preparing for your career!