I was sent an offer to lease or sale a fractional Net acreage that I knew nothing about. The Heirship affidavits they sent for me to sign are for my grandmother, her father and his mother, my 2g-grandmother. My mother is deceased, so the rights come to me as her sole heir in her Will. I asked the landsman how they determined I was entitled to these rights in the first place and his answer was “We use an out of house title attorney to determine your net acreage and ownership, I am sorry but will not be able to trace that all of the way back for you.” My question is if they won’t tell me when and from whom these rights originated, can I register the my ownership of these rights with the county clerk in Wetzel based on the paperwork the landsman sent me? I am inclined to not sign the lease or to sell, but I am concerned that I might be overlooked in the future if another company decides they want to lease or buy them.
I am in the same situation and currently investigating. For your info a 3.5 acre interest in central wetzel I recieved an offer of 8k today. Stay tuned and i will update my progress. My 2 parcel are around 25 acres each with a 1/12th interest and everyone has signed but me with eqt. They were ripped off a few years ago.
If it were me, I would get legal counsel and try to go ahead and file the affidavits of heirship whatever the appropriate instrument would be independently of dealing with the land agent. Then you can decide what to do regarding leasing or sales.
Definitely don’t settle for $8K for 3.5 acres in Wetzel. You should be able to negotiate up above $4K/acre, most likely more. I’d counter at $8k/acre and see what I could get.
Usually they’re more willing to explain how you ended up with an interest in minerals. You should ask again and see if maybe you could talk with the landman that did the genealogy. I guarantee they didn’t hire a lawyer to do genealogical work.
Do not be bashful about looking into other mineral buyers if you decide you’d like to sell. 8/k for a 3.5 net acre interest is a dismal $2,285.00/ac. I have seen deals and closed deals myself north of 8k/ac in Wetzel County in recent months, albeit, most buyers are looking for deals north of 10 net acres. There are a few groups out there willing to look at smaller deals, but I would generally avoid brokers and go with a true end buyer.
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