What does it Cost to Become a Notary?

Becoming a notary is a great way to supplement your income, meet new people and to add variety to your life because you never know what each day will bring. But before you take on any new venture you should always do your research.

One of the things to research about becoming a notary is the cost. I am currently in the process of renewing my license and below are a list of my expenses so far:

Golden State Notary 6-hour online class - $49.95
CA State exam - $40.00
Live Scan fingerprinting - $85.00

My upcoming expenses:

Required $15,000 Bond - $38.00
New stamp - $19.95
New embosser - $28.95
Error & Omissions Insurance ($100,000) - $156.00

Thankfully, these expenses do not come all at once but after it is all said and done a new notary will easily spend between $500 - $600 for licensing and supplies.

Now, if you want to become a Loan Signing Agent your costs will be between $1,000 - $1,500 but we will examine these expenses in another blog.

Related posts:

It's Time to Renew My Notary License
I Passed My Notary Exam!

I Passed My Notary Exam!

As I was explaining in my previous blog, I recently had to renew my notary commission. Well, yesterday I found out I passed with a score of 87!

With a test consisting of only 30 questions there isn't much room for error. Even though I am aware of the ends and outs being a notary, taking a test on the subject can be a little nerve racking.

Now I am off to get my fingerprints...

Cool Notary Gear

Are you a notary looking for an easy way to advertise yourself? Well, check out the notary items found at CafePress. I found some more cool stuff here.

I can't wait to place my order.

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Should You Tip Your Local Notary?

Like most webmasters I am able to view statistics on visitors to my notary blog. One of the statistics provides me with the string of keywords visitors use to reach my site.

An interesting set of keywords that were used recently was "do you tip a notary public" and "how much to tip a notary" so I thought, "hmm, this would make a good blog."

I feel that notarizing documents is a service, and just like in a restaurant you tip for good service. Especially, if you have contracted for mobile notary services and the notary has traveled to you at a late hour or has accommodated a last minute request.

In some states a notary can only charge $2 per signature or their travel fee is limited by state laws so tipping an extra $5 or $10 I am sure would be appreciated.


Related posts:

Do You Need A Mobile Notary?
Mobile Notary - Traveling From Here to There

End of Year Notary Review

Gratefully, I'm here to welcome in another year; today is the first day of 2008. Thanks to the declining mortgage industry, 2007 was full of financial ups and downs. I started the year performing at least ten loan signings a month but by August I was happy to do one a month. All was not lost though because December brought an increase in business.

In December, I completed six loan signings for LSI and ServiceLink, several Apostilles going to India, and three loan signings from a mortgage company in Oklahoma that had a client in Long Beach who was purchasing investment property in Tulsa.

All of this notary work led to closing 2007 on a high note. I hope this is a good sign for my notary business in 2008.

California Apostille & Notary Spelling Bee

Even if you are a good speller you're still vulnerable to brain freeze; you know how to spell the word but it is just not coming to you. And sometimes you are just one keystroke away from spelling the word correctly.

When potential clients are looking for Apostille or mobile notary services I am sure some have had trouble spelling these words correctly, as they are not apart of everyday language. Many people did not know what a notary or an apostille was until they needed one.

Below are a few variations on the word Notary:

notory, notarie, nnotary, nootary, notery, notary republic, noterepublic, public notery, notorization, and notarially.

And a few variations on Apostille:

apostill, apostile, apostil, apostles, apostils, aapostille, aopstille, and apstille.

Regardless of whether Notary or Apostille is spelled correctly just remember that The Document Diva can handle all of document authentication needs professionally and precisely.