Someone Recently Showed Up On My Doorstep to Buy My Mineral Rights

This happened three weeks ago. A guy showed up on my door inquiring if I was the heir to such and such person. It turned out I was. He then said that I was the heir to mineral rights for 20 acres in Gregg County and he wanted to buy them. His price to "buy" them was $400 an acre. I didn't previously know anything about this, and he wouldn't tell me where they were other than in Gregg County.

I've been trying to figure out what potentially I have, and would appreciate any suggestions. I know that leasing interest has fallen greatly, but is there still any leasing going on in that area, and if so, what is a ballpark figure if it so happened that these acres are in an area of interest in Gregg County. I guess there is at least one person interested because he drove from Tyler to know on my door.

Would it be best to wait to see if n gas goes back over $6 in the next couple of years?

Also, how do I go about finding out exactly where these acres are?

Thanks in advance.

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I'd simply ask the fellow trying to buy your minerals to give you a copy of the deed he intends you to sign. He's not reputable if he does not leave it with you. No deed or lease should be signed before an experts review anyway. On the deed is a description of the property of concern. From this description it is a simple task to actually locate the property on the ground and with a little work in the Gregg County clerks office you can determine how ownership has been passed to you. Between you and I, $400./acre might be a little cheap for minerals near production or that are under permit to be drilled. Its my guess that yours is a fractional interest that has been shelved by the Operator until the results of the well are known. This guy sounds like a greedy, doesn't miss a trick, landman who's got a sucker list in his briefcase and an underline beneath your name.
He didn't seem to want to divulge information on where the acres were to either me, and later, to my sister. I suppose that could be taken as a positive. I don't know. He didn't produce any paper work at all to me. I haven't heard from him since then. I'm probably going to have to find this (where abouts of the acres) myself.
Did you consider that this land may actually have a producing well in a unit which has a producing well?
I have working interest in a well in North Louisiana and a small amount of land in the unit the well is in.
I drilled this well with Fina about 10 years ago and we have never been able to locate any heirs. So their money is available to anyone who can prove heirship.

Just read James Goodgame's response. I agree with his posting. There are companies who routinely make mass mailings to people who own minerals. They even mail a bank draft with form. I know a couple of people who actually sold their mineral rights which were worth at least 20 times what they got.
It has come up. I didn't know this until this came up, but my mother had a small check waiting for her when my sister had filed the proper papers concerning a small area in North Texas.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm in no hurry to sign anything.
Hi Steve Lynch, I think that we may be related . My mother was a Lynch and she was born and raised in San Augustine , Texas. Of course my mother has bee deceased for a little over 30 years now. But she had a brother that is still living and he and his family still live in San Augustine, Texas. I keep in touch wit them ever so often as my Uncle Russell and Aunt Lillian and my family had always been really close over the years. They are up in age now and I like to keep tabs on them. They do have grown children that live there too. Back last year now in 2008 Uncle Russell and Aunt Lillian came to Shreveport, La. here where I live and told us about the leases ther going on in San Augustine, Texas. The Lynch's have some there. Not long after that we got a call from the Lease people about ours. Since my mother has been deceased , my siblings and I get her part, that was divided among us. But also my mother has other sisters and brothers too. The only ones that had kids was my Aunt Nea, we called her, my mother, an then my Uncle Russell. Theothers never had kids. My Aunt Nea livedin eiher Beaumont, Texas or Brodus, Texas or maybe she had lived n bth places.She only had one son, They called him Little Herman. Little Herman was my mothers nephew, but they were close in age. He married a lady named Pat , I remeber and I thinkshe was a school teacher.They adoptd three children, but I don't remember what there names were. Seems like they called her Sissy and One of th boys Bubba. I think it was 1 girl and 2 boys they adopted. I'mjust wondering if you could be one of these Lynch's that I'm related to. I know that there were others that tey were trying tofind back then. That was in September 2008 when we signed our lease with Elite Landworks Association. iN FACT THIS LAND WAS SOME THAT OUR PARENTS USETO GET ROYALTY CHECKS on years ago and I think they have just renewed the ease on this one here . There are two tracts of land there . I hope to hear bck from you. We could be related and you could of been the ones that the were trying to find back then. ood Luck!
Martha, Unfortunately, my son and I are pretty much the end of the line for this Lynch family. I wish we were related :) The mineral rights, if they do exist, were from my mother's side of the family and isn't Lynch related. This land man, although not being specific, hinted to my sister that the mineral rights were around the Longview area.
Steve,

I have not heard of much current activity in Gregg County. $200-$300 an acre would probably be a fair price for a lease bonus in that area at this point, but $400 an acre for an outright mineral purchase is probably a bit low.

However, assesing what a mineral interest might be worth can be tricky. With little or no activity or production in the surrounding areas, it is hard to determine a fair price range for a mineral purchase offer. Example: I am a petroleum landman myself and have recently been trying to market a family friend's mineral tract in one of the counties SW of Tarrant County, Texas. While their has been some Barnett Shale activity there in the past 2 years, the area has gone completely quiet. At this point, I am having trouble even finding someone willing to pay $350.00 an acre for the full mineral interest (over 850 net mineral acres). This being in an area where leases were going for up to $500 an acre just 8 months ago.

I say all of this to bring up the point that minerals in current inactive areas are difficult to put a price tag on. If your family is interested in selling the asset, I would make a counter offer to him, as $400 was likely just a starting point. Or perhaps seek out alternative offers from other mineral purchasers out there to see what they might be willing to pay.

Otherwise, it would not hurt to sit tight and wait to see what will happen in the coming years.
Thanks for giving me some information on this. Are the E&P companies still purchasing mineral rights at all with the ng prices so low? Would it make more since to wait and see if an economic recovery boosts ng prices by the end of 2010?
It always helps when there are more buyers than sellers as well.

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