buying land without the mineral rights? your thoughts?

Ive been in the market for 20 pus or so acres and found a killer deal in west virginia. 1 problem tho is that it doesnt come with mineral rights.

Should i still look into getting it or pass it by?

Thoughts?

to be honest i really don't understand the whole mineral rights thing.

what does it really mean in the long run, other than if you were to say find gold it wouldn't be yours. who would it belong to? could they just come and take over whenever they pleased to start a mine? seems to me (probably a naive view), that if you "own" land shouldn't anything in that land also belong to you? this is something that has always caused me questions. buying land without rights to everything found on or in it just doesn't sound like you actually own it.

Depends on what you want the land for. I don't own my mineral rights. The county I live in nobody owns the mineral rights for their land. Not too many counties away people are signing gas leases that make some in my county wish they had said rights! But it's just the way it is. I live in a region that was long known to hold a land resource, so for a long time now nobody owned below ground rights. Doesn't surprise me that W.Virginia is the same way. If you want the land to build a house or to farm go for it. If you were hoping to get rich of a mine or a lease, then it isn't for you. Just check and see how close you are to the shale and if they need your permission to extract from your land. There are some health issues that can come with that and you don't want to pay and then have someone spoil the land. Although, if you say no, someone else nearby will say yes anyway and it will all be the same.....

If you like the land buy it.

Well, the way it's going to be viewed is this...you buy land, but you don't the air above it, at great distances, unless you can reasonably use it. If one were to show that you have a reasonable way to access that area, for whatever purpose, then you may be able to debate the mineral rights.

reply to post by dominicus


bottom line - what do you want land for ?

reply to post by dominicus


Pass it by.

Without those rights, you will not get anything under your property. Heck, you could find a vein of gold or a oil deposit and you would not have the right to mine it.

Once again, pass it by.

Here in Colorado, water is a precious resource. Not too long ago, I had neighbors that were fighting tooth and nail to be able to drill new water wells because they didn't have the mineral rights. Also, you should watch the movie Gasland. The natural gas companies have destroyed peoples drinking water drilling on their property.

It may be virtually impossible to purchase the land with mineral rights... it is in most places that are resource rich but you deserve to know what you're buying.

Make sure you have mineral rights. Especially if they are saying you don't have mineral rights, that means there is probably something valuable down there.
but if you don't mind the risk of the possibility of getting screwed over sometime in the future, go for it.

20 years in the bizz?

Ask a local real estate lawyer. Unless He's selling it.

Hum, I am curious about this thread as I recently discovered I own 80 acres in the middle of Oklahoma City, or at least the mineral rights, but what good are they to me?

This is actually an area in which I have some expertise. I do agree with one post in that it depends on what you wanted the land for. That being said, there are some things to keep in mind:

The practice of "reserving" mineral rights has been around for a long time. In my area, early 1900's. Some places even longer.

The seller may not have the minerals to convey. It is possible they had been reserved all or in part by a previous owner. This is worth inquiring about.

If you purchase the land,"less and except minerals and mineral rights" (basic language) then whoever has the minerals will have the right to explore for those minerals. In most places that means that exploration of those minerals could occur on your land even if you don't want it to. Most companies exploring for minerals do compensate the surface owner for use of their land. The price and terms, including reclamation are negotiable in most instances.

If the seller does have possession of the minerals, it may be prudent to find out if for a bit more on your purchase price, the minerals could be included. Be sure that ownership of the minerals is proven. Mineral title, unlike surface title, should be researched all the way back to inception if possible

There is a lot of exploration for Oil and Natural Gas going on all over the country...to our benefit...purchasing lands with minerals intact in those areas can be difficult.

I actually researched this on another forum for a lady complaining about someone tearing up her yard for a mineral survey.

What I found out (if I remember right) is that in areas where mineral rights and land rights are separate, whoever has mineral rights also has the right to survey/ excavate the area. In most cases, though, they must notify the land owner of their intention and aren't allowed to disturb buildings or other structures.

I suggest trying to find out who owns mineral rights and contact them concerning their intentions. Might need to retain a lawyer if any sort of agreement needs to be drawn up.

reply to post by dominicus


buying land without mineral rights in laymen terminology means you are buying the spacefrom just above the ground up, your buying airspace. The seller owns ever piece of dirt,sand,rock,vegetation and water.

It means if they find any sort of goody on your land, they have the right to rape it or will pass the laws so they can do it, its been happening around here with coal deposits. People having to deal with sample drilling on their land and cant say
But from the looks, thats going to be the norm all over pretty soon!!!

Mineral rights (and obligations) vary by state.

In most states, owning the mineral rights gives the possessor the right of an "easement." (google it). And easement is the right to traverse your surface property to get at their rights.

mineral rights may or may not include surface water rights.

in some states, owning the mineral rights gives you a claim on anyone ELSE exploiting the oil patch included in your rights. Meaning (for the poster in Oklahoma, possibly), that if someone is drilling oil near you, they MAY owe you a share of the profits from their well or remuneration for the depletion of your share of the asset.


If you have problems with prospecting company that demands an easement, you may be able to cause enough headaches that they leave you alone, particularly if your neighbors are more pliable.

I have seen "a friend" accomplish this twice; once by insisting that an environmental impact study be performed before the easement is put in place. The other time by reporting a rumor of archaeological artifacts present in the easement. In Texas, both scenarios require the developer / prospector to pay to have the land inspected. While it only costs a few thousand dollars for the corporation, it required experts from the state university to write up the work, and they promptly said there was a two year waiting list, to have the surveys done.

In the meantime, the prospector found someone else's land to thump on.

I have never heard of anyone getting mineral rights with land purchases. People always thought if they kept this , that even if they sold it and you found lets say oil under there, they would be rich. Its partially true. But most folks these days just do it cause that is the way its always been. If they did decide to look for and find oil, guess what you get paid for access to the well and traffic in and out. They will have to pay you "rent" to do this. It works out for all. I personally just would not let them look or want to look my self so my land wont be pillaged. But they can go to your neighbors and still get at the oil under your place if they really want anyways. If they thought there was goods under there they would never have sold the place anyways.

So dont listen to these folks saying not to buy it, they obviously have never bought land before. You will not find land with those rights and my immediate family has owned land all over Texas and Oklahoma for about 50yrs and not once has this been an issue for anything, we have gardened, dug wells, ponds, etc.

I assume you just want land for bugging out to or a farmstead sort of setup, you will be fine. Get the land in the place you want and dont worry about the rest.

Originally posted by Wiz4769
I personally just would not let them look or want to look my self so my land wont be pillaged.

Well, mineral rights generally includes the right of easement (access), particularly in Texas, where you can easily sue for easement if you didn't purchase it along with the mineral rights. I'm from Texas, too.

But they can go to your neighbors and still get at the oil under your place if they really want anyways. If they thought there was goods under there they would never have sold the place anyways.

Unless they knew, back in the 50s and 60s, that it was "just natural gas, no oil" under the land. That's how T. Boone Pickens built Mesa Petroleum; paying farmers for "worthless" natural gas rights.

So dont listen to these folks saying not to buy it, they obviously have never bought land before. You will not find land with those rights and my immediate family has owned land all over Texas and Oklahoma for about 50yrs and not once has this been an issue for anything, we have gardened, dug wells, ponds, etc.

Maybe "do your own research, and talk to a lawyer in your state might be the best advice of all. Oops, somebody already said that, somewhere. imagine.

If the land is worth the money buy it, then do your own mineral survey and if theres any wealth on it exploit it, if not just live your life and except you got a good deal

reply to post by dominicus


Font worryn go for it, if you find anything good just keep it quite. Mineral rights are sold to highest bidders usually in countries and ususally you are just asked to waive these rights so when they sell them they can boast of having more land. It doesnt mean anyone guna go digging your land up.

Interestingly I read that the Queen ownes all mineral rights in Kazakstan and this makes her insanely rich despit it not being officially hers

Are the "Minerals" defined? and to what level and dept?

Sand and rock is a mineral too.. Just imagine the one WITH the rights coming onto your property removing all the sand and rocks...

You never know!