looking to buy some land in harris county,texas how would I know if the minerals rights are there. does the realter have to tell you if the mineral rights are inculded.
trini
Trinidad:
The realtor should be able to provide the information regarding the minerals. It is generally hard to find land for sale in which the minerals are included. In many cases, the minerals are held by past generations and the current land owners don't even own them. Over the years, I have seen instances where the surface owner was willing to sell a small percentage of the minerals which in most cases was used to serve as an incentive to purchase the surface rights at the cost being asked by the owner. Again, if you happen to luck upon a deal whereas the minerals are included, consider yourself lucky.
I disagree, the realtor should NOT be able to provide that information. How on Earth would the realtor know without running a full blown mineral title on the tract, and how many realtors do YOU know who will just run out and run mineral title on a tract of land that they are selling? And any realtor who would say one way or the other WITHOUT knowing is really, really stupid. I was told when I bought my house that I did NOT own the minerals, turns out I DID own them because I was approached by a landman and personally verified my ownership. I think the seller's agent when I bought my house just said NO, that I did not get the minerals in the purchase, because it was safer to say NO and have it turn out YES than to say YES and have it turn out NO. Most realtors and bankers are clueless about minerals, period.