Do you own a large piece of property that you are not doing much with other than hunting? If so, you may be wondering if it is worth selling those mineral rights to the property to make some extra cash. Selling the oil and gas found underground can be a wonderful way to increase your income by doing relatively nothing, but there are some things to know before signing away the rights to those precious underground materials.
Understand How Much Space Is Needed to Drill
A common misconception about selling your mineral rights is that it will take up a small amount of space on the property. Prior to selling mineral rights to any company, you'll want to find out exactly how much of your property is needed for drilling and various equipment.
Be aware that other parts of your property may be needed in order to drill. For instance, a small office may be created on the property. If there is not an access road that runs to the drilling site, a road must be created to make it easy for vehicles to get in and out.
Make sure you have a full understanding of what parts of your property can be used, and as long as you are okay with it, you can move forward with the selling process.
Research Your Mineral Rights
It's possible that somebody else owns the property's mineral rights, and you are not allowed to sell them. If so, you will not be able to legally sell them to a potential buyer. While you may have bought the property many years ago, know that there is a possibility the due diligence was not done during the sale and that those mineral rights were never purchased. A real estate lawyer can help you have a search done to determine who owns the rights to those precious minerals.
Another possibility is that you do not own some of those mineral rights, with you having ownership of others. For example, you might not have the mineral rights to sell oil, but you do have them for natural gas. This still gives you the right to sell the rights for those minerals that you do own, and any other mineral rights owner would be out of luck.
When dealing with such a complicated legal process, always work with a professional who specializes in real estate attorney services such as mineral rights.
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