Should I Become A Notary in Houston

[Denise Jackson]

A friend recently suggested that I look into becoming a LSA as a means of getting my feet wet in the industry while learning the industry and figuring out my entry strategy. She said that I could potentially earn $125 - $200 per signing. Google searches verified that, suggesting that p/t signers earn around $220 per month and f/t signers earn from $5k -$6k per month. The potential for eking out a halfway decent living while learning interested me. And, having been a notary for a job in a previous life, I began researching the idea more seriously. It looked promising until I came across some conflicting information in a BP thread. It was suggested that the undercutting of prices from competition, mileage, mailing, printing, paper, toner and scanning, along with the cost of the LSA course, printer purchase and insurance, would all eat into your income, whittling it down to about $10/hr.

Have any of you found this to be true?

Right now the Houston area is hot (no pun intended) with businesses and lots of people moving to Texas. I’m wondering what the market is like for LSAs/mobile notaries and if I should continue to consider it as a viable option.

I appreciate your responses.

[Ethan G.]

I think it totally depends on the title company.  The one where I am a fee attorney has a few local ones we always use and then there is a service we use that sends them out (I'm sure they charge $x and then pay the notaries $x/2 or something like that).