It usually goes like this:  I'll have a closing at 4 p.m.  I'll have another closing at 6 p.m. Normally there would be no problem handling those two assignments.  Colorado Springs isn't that big.  I can finish the 4pm closing, then go straight to the 6pm closing.

There's just one problem: I haven't received the loan documents for the 6 p.m. closing.  The title company is waiting for final HUD approval.

Now it's not a simple matter of going from one closing to the other.  I have documents that I need to print.  And if I drive back to my office to print them, there is no way that I will be able to make it to the 6 p.m. appointment on time.

The solution: print the documents without having to drive back to my office.

But how?  The answer: a mobile office.  For a notary signing agent, it doesn't require much.  All that is needed is a

• laptop computer with an internet connection,
• a laser printer (and paper, of course), and
• a way to power the printer (a power inverter).

Instead of driving back to my office, I find a place to park and print the documents from my mobile office. 

It might even turn out that I'm printing the documents parked in front of the borrower's home. At least I am there and ready to commence with the closing. 

If the title company calls to tell me that they had to send over some additional documents, that's no problem.  Print those out from the mobile office too. 

Yes, it's possible that the borrower has a computer and a printer. But it's probably an ink jet printer that won't print legal size documents.

So to answer the question: Are mobile offices necessary?  No, they're not necessary.  But they sure make life simpler. 

And they can make you more productive.

Good luck.

P.S. And if you're thinking that going to a Kinkos is a solution -- there are no Kinkos out here.