Why Florida Real Estate Professionals Should Consider Becoming Notaries

Real estate professionals provide crucial services that help people navigate important transactions, like purchasing a new home or business property. Notaries do the same thing but in a different way. The overlap between real estate and notary work may not seem obvious at first. But in this article, we cover why it makes sense (logically and financially) for real estate professionals in Florida to become notaries.

What Is a Notary?

Notaries are trained professionals who work on behalf of the state to prevent fraud and forgery within important transactions, like the creation of wills and deeds. They do so by acting as impartial witnesses to the signing of these documents. Before validating signatures with their official seal, notaries must verify the identity of all signers and be in the presence, either physically or virtually, of everyone signing the document.

What Are the Benefits of Being a Notary?

Becoming a notary is a great decision for real estate professionals looking to earn additional income and diversify their professional experience. Earning a notary commission is also a relatively low-cost, simple process with a short time commitment.

Flexibility and Job Security

Notary work fits nicely into the job flexibility of the real estate industry. Like real estate professionals, many notaries act as their own bosses and set their own hours by freelancing full-time. Others work full-time but act as notaries on the side for additional income. Unlike real estate professionals, however, notaries aren’t at the mercy of a volatile market. As long as people are taking out loans, creating wills, and negotiating contracts, notaries are needed.

Many documents that need notarization are familiar to any real estate professional, like property deeds, commercial leases, and mortgage closing documents (more on that below). But becoming a notary also brings the opportunity to branch out into different industries.

Other common documents that need notarizing are:

Financial statements
Wills and trust deeds
Custody and guardianship agreements
Vendor and supplier contracts
Employment contracts
Credit reports

Income Opportunities

Becoming a notary is a great way to earn additional income, but, just like your current real estate role, it depends on how much time and effort you put in.

Your income potential is affected by location, employer, and time commitments. With that aside, the national average yearly salary for a full-time notary public is $50,294, based on an average taken from four salary databases. In Florida, the average full-time notary salary is $47,710.

Most notary-specific income comes from service fees associated with general notary work, including acknowledgments, oaths, and affirmations. The amount you can charge has limitations, however.

Because notaries are public officials, most states set limits on notarization fees. For example, Florida allows notaries to charge up to $10 for each notarial act. While in New York, notaries can only charge $2 per notarial act.

Ability to Become a Notary Signing Agent

Notaries can complete additional training to become notary signing agents, who work on complex loan documents like mortgages. Yes, real estate professionals can also be signing agents, and there are many benefits to being both.

Compared to traditional notaries, signing agents usually make more and have more work opportunities. Since signing agents primarily work within the real estate industry, it’s a great way to increase your earning potential without straying too far from your current experience.

How Do I Become a Notary in Florida?

As a real estate agent, you already meet some of the basic requirements for becoming a notary in Florida. Florida Notary Service has everything you need to get started and makes becoming a notary easy.

Ready to start your notary journey? Check out the Florida notary guide to learn more.