I have received a couple of offers to sell my interest in Benbrook, Tarrant County, Texas natural gas wells, my siblings and I share the royalties from five wells that we have the mineral rights to, but don’t own the property. I get about $3000 a year or less in monthly payments. I am older, retired, and need advice if I should just sell the rights and enjoy the lump sum or hold on to the rights - the checks go up and down but would take several years to reach the amount that I am being offered. Is it a good idea or not to sell right now, the wells are in the Barnett Shale deposits. Thank you for any advice.
I would never let it get out of the family. My mother is reaping the benefits of decisions my great grandparents made by not selling, even during the depression and hard times. It is much better to take a long view and leave it to someone in your will. If you feel like you just have to sell, why not sell it to one of your siblings or someone else in the family. People in East Texas who have been around oil and gas for generations say never, never, never, sell.
The answer is specific to your situation, i.e., your age; health; whether the money will be needed to provide a better quality (life long term care) for you and/or spouse in the future; how many years would it take at $3000/yr. to make up the amount you are being offered; what is the anticipated remaining production of the well from which you now receive royalties; would your children (you may know without asking them) keep or sell the minerals if they received them upon your passing.
My husband's uncle sold all his minerals to an oil company in the 1920s. It is non-producing today. From our perspective, we wish he had not sold them. From Uncle Ed's perspective, he received enough to pay cash for a Model A Ford. After that, he still lived on the land without electricity, but instead of riding a wagon to Houston for supplies a few times a year, he drove a car. His meager lifestyle was not drastically changed, but he lived better.
Back of it all is either a mindset of delayed satisfaction (perhaps beyond one's lifetime), or living in the moment as your best judgment dictates.