As a Mobile Notary, having the right supplies for your business will set you up for success. Getting started in the Notary business is not a high overhead startup like so many others, but there are some costs that are necessary to be ready.
Here you find the list of 7 Essential Supplies for Your Notary Business, however, this is not a complete list of every little thing you will need to run your business, just the essentials.
Whether you are doing loan signings only, or a mix of loan signings and General Notary Work, this list of essentials will cover the bases of what you need to have.
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1. A Notary Stamp
We highly recommend the ExcelMark Self Inking Notary Stamp.Â
We have been using these Notary Stamps for years now and have found them to be durable, reliable, and easily refilled with their notary ink refill.
You may already have a Notary Stamp but might want to
consider getting one of these and giving it a test run. It will probably become your new favorite stamp for getting all those documents signed and stamped with
a clear image of your notarization.
When selecting a notary stamp, we looked at several things that were important. It had to be a conveniently sized compact stamp, that gave a clear stamped image with ease, was simple to refill, and stood up to the
rigors of a high-volume notary business.
The ExcelMark Self Inking Notary Stamp met and surpassed all of those expectations!
2. A Protective Case for Your Notary Stamp
You don’t want to learn the hard way on this one. When your Notary Stamp comes apart and breaks inside your briefcase or notary bag, and you don’t find all the pieces until you are AT THE APPOINTMENT, you will wish you had put it in a protective case.
After quite a bit of research for a Notary Stamp case and
struggling to find something that would work, we came across this one!
The Homecube Big Capacity Pencil Case.Â
It not only has the perfect compartment to protect your Notary Stamp, but it also has room to carry other portable office supplies that you may need for a Notary appointment, as well as room for your business cards!
We HIGHLY recommend that you protect your Notary Stamp with this rigid canvas, zippered case. Having your stamp protected provides peace of mind.Â
Storing your business cards in there also will help remind you to leave your business card with your clients when you are putting your Notary Stamp away in the case at the end of your appointment.
That’s called Notary Business Savvy! Check it out.
We highly recommend the Homecube Big Capacity Pencil Case to store and protect your Notary Stamp in your briefcase or Notary bag.
From Visually.
3. A Quality Notary Journal
You can read all about our reviews of the Notary Journals we have checked out in our other post 3 Top Notary Public Journal Picks for Loan Signing Agents.
There are some great options to choose from in that post. Keep in mind that your Notary Journal requirements are set by your Secretary of State, and you should be sure to get one that abides by those requirements.
We highly recommend the Integrity Notary Journal: A Single-Signing-View Logbook of Notarial Acts if it is allowed on your state.
This Notary Journal has a great list of commonly notarized documents already printed so all you need to do is check mark the document and circle which signers are being notarized on that document, 1, 2, 3, or 4.
There is room for up to 4 signers on each page saving tons of time at each and every Notary appointment, which adds up to a lot of time saved, and MORE MONEY for your Notary Business.
Just check out their great Amazon reviews and you will get an idea of why we chose this Notary Journal for our own business and still use it every day. It’s hard to beat!
You may already have a Notary Journal that you are using, but you might want to consider ordering one of these to check it out for yourself, it will most likely be your new favorite journal.
We highly recommend the Integrity Notary Journal: A Single-Signing-View Logbook of Notarial Acts.
Check it out!
4. Blue and Black Ball Point Pens
Notice we mentioned that your pens should be Ball Point Pens. Why? Because they won’t smear on the documents like gel pens and fountain pens will. Smeared ink on your notarized documents is a sloppy mistake made by rookie notaries. Don’t be that Notary.
Blue ink is required on most Real Estate Transaction paperwork so have a box of them ready so your signers are always covered.
Black is what we use for all our General Notary Work appointments, which is everything other than loan signings.
If you want to learn more about General Notary Work, then check out our post on the 3 Best General Notary Work Tips for Your Notary Business.
We’ve been through a bunch of pens. Honestly, we’ve settled on the BIC Round Stic Xtra Life Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point.
These may be cheap, but they right very well and last a long time. We buy them in bulk because as you already know, pens seem to disappear.
We highly recommend the BIC Round Stic Xtra Life Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point.
5. A Dual Tray Laser Printer
While this may be one of the more expensive investments in your Notary business, you don’t want to take any short cuts here.
Laser printers are required to Real Estate documents, so if you are planning on being a Loan Signing Agent then this is a must! Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an Ink Jet will do, it won’t.
After a ton of use, and over 1000 Real Estate Closings, our Brother HL-6200DWT Wireless Dual Tray Laser Printer is still holding up like a champ! It is the go-to Laser Printer for most Notary Signing Agents that I know of. It has earned a reputation for being almost bullet proof.
Printing mixed letter and legal-size paper with ease should be mandatory if you really want a successful Notary business! This is where the dual tray comes in. One tray holds letter size paper and the other holds legal size paper.
When you print with Adobe, you can print mixed document sizes easily while keeping the original stacking order. Saving you a tone of time which means MORE MONEY for your Notary Business!
The dual trays on the HL-6200DWT each hold a full ream of paper, so you don’t have refill the trays as often. This makes printing a full set of loan documents a breeze, usually just a few minutes!
There are ton of videos on Youtube about this printer which makes it simple to set up and maintain.
We highly recommend the Brother HL-6200DWT Wireless Dual Tray Laser Printer!
Check it out!
6. A High Speed Scanner
Because scan backs of home loan packages are almost always required, and this will be the primary source of income for your Notary business, it is essential that you have a high-speed scanner on hand.Â
Loan packages are often between 100 to 175 pages. So, without the right scanner this can really bog your business down.
There are several things to consider when selecting the
right scanner. It needs to scan quickly, the resolution needs to be good, and it must be portable. There are times when you will want to bring it with you to a signing.
With all of those things in mind, it’s no wonder that so
many Notary Signing Agents have chosen the Epson ES-500W as the best scanner for Notary businesses.
It does not take up much desk space and folds up nicely to
tuck away into a corner of your desk space. It is also very portable at about the size of a football when folded up.
Don’t underestimate your need for a great scanner and trust us on this one! Every Loan Signing Agent I know uses this exact scanner for a reason.
We highly recommend the Epson ES-500W High Speed Scanner for the Notary business! Check it out!
7. A Windows Computer (preferably a laptop).
You might be asking why we recommend Windows over Mac. Good question!
The reason is that most sets of loan documents are sent in .pdf format which requires Adobe Acrobat to open and print mixed paper sizes (letter and legal).
Well….Mac and Adobe don’t get along well in this aspect.
If you try to run your notary business on a Mac, expect printing issues on a regular basis due to the ongoing conflict between Mac and Adobe.
Don’t try to work around it, hundreds of Loan Signing Agents before you have spent hours on the phone with tech support for both Mac and Adobe, they just point fingers at each other, and you get stuck under pressure with a big set of loan docs that won’t print right, and an appointment coming fast.
We have put the HP Pavilion 15.6 w/ Windows through the paces in our business, and it has been very reliable with no issues.
We highly recommend the HP Pavilion 15.6 with at least 16GB of Ram.
Check it out!
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