My wife and her brother inherited mineral rights from their mother and we know nothing about the area. Someone is trying to buy the rights. How do we find out what is going on and what a reasonable price is?
There are a lot of companies out there offering to buy mineral rights. Just because they offer does not mean you have to respond. Geology varies across Atoka county. You would have to post the section, township and range to get folks to answer if they have offers to get a feel for prices. If I were to sell, I would get at least three legitimate bids and never hand over a deed without getting paid. There are buyers out there buying with low offers and never telling the mineral owner that increased drilling is pending. Good for you for asking questions and trying to get informed.
A reasonable price is what a “willing and informed seller under no compulsion to sell and a willing and informed buyer under no compulsion to buy agree upon”. However, the sellers are usually not informed. Most offers are low in my opinion (based on the offers I have received and the research I have done on them). And they usually fail to inform the sellers that they may have to pay capital gains tax. Folks need to consider what their needs are versus their wants. They need to consider the tax benefits of hanging onto minerals and passing them to the next generation in order to get a re-evaluation of the cost basis. Do folks have short term-immediate needs or are they willing to hang on for a longer time? What is their investment strategy? Don’t sell just to sell, have a plan. Sell some, hang onto some, sell none. All different strategies.
I also keep tabs on the Oklahoma Land Office OK public land auctions. I take them with a grain of salt since they are an auction, but does give a flavor of the going rates. You can look up old bids.
If this first link doesn’t work, try Minerals – Commissioners of the Land Office
Parcels are NW1/4 of Sec 5, T 4 South, R 12E And S1/2 of SW1/4 of S 32, T 3 S, R 12 E, Atoka, Co.