My brother and I own the mineral rights on just over 100 acres in Wetzel County. Can anyone tell me what a fair price per acre would be if we were to sell?
HI Ava! Our family owns 100 acres in the Green District of Wetzel County. I'm assuming you've been approached to sell, as we have recently. I've been told by someone who actively participates on these boards (so he might chime in as well?) that you shouldn't sell for less than $6-8K an acre but that obviously the rights have a chance to be even more valuable than that, as the company buying still wants to make a profit. The one company that very actively tried to purchase came in well, well below those numbers and never got close to them so we didn't sell.
I don't recommend that you sell, especially right now. I mean, if you need some cash for an emergency, then by all means sell what you have to to take care of yourself. If you can hold on to those mineral rights they should be worth more in the long run than you could ever hope to get for a sale right now. Even two years ago when prices were still good I recommended that people hold on to their mineral rights if they could. It's a long term and speculative investment because you don't know if someone will lease your property and even if they do and start work today the royalty payoff is probably a minimum of 18 months off, but when it pays off it pays off really well.