Lease Mineral Rights?

Question

So I live in Forest Hill, TX and this last week we had tons of companies asking
us to lease them our mineral rights since they are very interested in having a
well 2 miles way from our properties, we had meeting in city hall and all that
but they don't give you more information than you would find in the Internet. I
own .5 an acre so I know I'm not getting a big bonus at first round $1500 and
then 25% royalties from this company. I know I have to get a surface use waiver
so they don't put a rig in my land, but this is the question no ones seems to
answer, is there any damage to my land and property? Is it worth it to go over
the trouble of researching other companies and their going rate? Anything bad I
should know? I know big companies have been relocating to Fort Worth since it
seems the barnett shale it's pretty big and lucrative, are we the property
owners getting screwed over? Being underpaid for the good and being left over
with the bad like water pollution?"

Answer 1

Call a land rights attorney...

Answer 2

You should definitely research both the companies as well as their offers before committing to any of them. Mineral rights can be very valuable and many companies know that landowners are less informed than they are when it comes to the value of these rights - you should also make sure you understand what condition your land will be left in once the lease expires -

In all, you are in a position to reap a lot of gain from your land - you just want to make sure you are being paid a fair price and the terms of the lease won't leave your land stripped and unusable (which would decrease its value significantly) - if you can find a non-interested third party, perhaps a geologist at a nearby college - and you should try to find others who have leased their mineral rights in the past. Contracts are tricky and any law student or lawyer can tell you that our casebooks are filled with stories of landowners getting the raw end of the deal when they were blinded by the prospect of profits and jumped in head-first without digging into the deal they were making.

You have something these companies want - and they wouldn't be pushing so hard if they could get it just anywhere, I suspect you have the time to mull this one over and by informing yourself, you can better your bargaining position - and get a better price! You have hit the landowners jackpot - make the most of it!

Good luck!