My mother just received an offer on mineral rights in Leon Cty, TX. We didn’t know she even owned them. The only information we have is from the offer letter, it does include an exhibit a with survey info. She vaguely remembers her parents inheriting them ages ago.
I would appreciate help on how to start this research. I’m not in Texas, so must do online research. I have a feeling the offer is low, but honestly i have no idea.
Welcome to the forum.
Is the offer to lease or to sell? Offers to sell often come before drilling, so be cautious on that option as they can be lowball. Make no commitment verbally or in writing until you have thoroughly researched. Ask the agent where they got your mom’s name and is the land in her name or is she the heir from someone else. That will give you a hint on where to start.
You can search www.texasfile.com for mineral rights. A one county search may be free. Use her name and if that shows nothing, look for her parents’ names.
Use the Texas Railroad Commission site to see if there is drilling nearby. https://gis.rrc.texas.gov/GISViewer/. Use the County drop down on the upper left to get Leon, Then use the magnifying glass to look for the surveys. Start with the Block, Abstract and Section. The slider bar will show wells if you get in close enough.
I moved your question to the Leon County topics area. Lots to read there, so get caught up. There is a lot of activity in the county, so if it were me, I would be inclined to lease and not to sell. Your gut is probably right on the “low”.
You need to know how many NET MINERAL Acres you own and where the minerals are located in Leon County first of all. Location, Location, Location is important! Some of the best Natural Gas Wells in Texas are located in the Marquez area. Have you had any offers to lease? Don’t sell, get a real good lease on them and keep them.
You need to find the deed or other recorded documents by which your mother’s parents gain title to that mineral interest. Here’s a site where you can do free online searches of Leon County deed records.There’s no charge to view documents but If you find something you want to print there is a per page charge https://i2i.uslandrecords.com/TX/Leon/D/Default.aspx
Is the offer you received to lease or sell?
A lot of leasing and drilling is currently going on in parts of Leon County. Post the survey information from the offer you received and someone can guide you to what the Texas Railroad Commission’s records show happening in that area.
You can try asking the folks who made the offer to give you the deed reference or other information they have regarding that mineral interest, or at least the name it’s in. They may not be willing to, or any guarantee what they might tell you is correct, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. In any case don’t make any kind of commitment until you understand what you own.
thank you all for your help. I’m looking at all the information you directed me to. I’m still trying to understand it all. The offer was to purchase. the property information is:
1st tract: 420 acres of land out of the A. Irwin Survey, A-421 and L Burns Survey A-60 2nd tract: 132 acres of land out of the Sarah Oden Survey A-1208 3rd tract: 121 acres of land out of the a Irwin survey 1-421
all of the tracts are part of a deed from 3/20/43
i’ve found the area and i think i found the survey but i’m confused. the description of the tracts say “x acres OUT OF the A Irwin Survey”, so how do i know exactly which acres those are?
It depends upon how the language of the deeds and other title information read. If it says “undivided” then it is a percentage of the total acres of the survey. But if it says “divided” and has very specific descriptions, then it is a specific tract carved out of the larger survey. A landman can help or ask the agent to clarify.
