Got an Unsolicited Offer?

A letter shows up offering a flat dollar amount for your mineral rights, no explanation of how they got your name or arrived at the number. Before you sign or trash it, spend two days finding out whether it's fair.

Mailbox offers are a real corner of this business — some are legitimate buyers casting a wide net across county ownership records, some are lowballing owners who won't check the number, and a small number are outright scams. You don't need weeks or a lawyer to figure out which one you're holding. You need your own records and a couple of phone calls, and you can have a real answer inside two days.

Hour 1: Read the Letter for What It Actually Discloses

Real offers identify the specific legal description of your tract — county, section, township and range or lot/block — rather than a vague reference to "your mineral interest." If the letter can't name your actual property, they likely pulled your mailing address from a mass list without confirming what you own, and any dollar figure attached is a guess, not a real evaluation.

Check whether the letter states a flat total dollar amount or a price per net mineral acre. A flat number hides the acreage math; a per-acre number lets you check it against what you actually own once you confirm your net mineral acreage from your deed or a division order.

Hours 2-6: Pull Your Own Numbers

Find your last two to four royalty statements if you have production, or your deed and any lease if you don't. The royalty statements show your actual decimal interest and recent monthly payment — the single best data point for judging any offer against real cash flow rather than a stranger's guess. If there's no production, pull your deed for net mineral acreage and check whether the tract is currently leased.

This is also the moment to check the county clerk's online index, if your county has one, to confirm the legal description in the letter actually matches your recorded ownership. A mismatch is a red flag worth resolving before you respond to anyone.

Hours 6-24: Check What's Actually Happening Near Your Tract

State oil and gas regulatory agencies publish permit filings, well completions, and production data by county and section, almost always searchable online. Look up recent permits or drilling activity within a mile or two of your acreage. A flurry of nearby permitting is the most common reason someone sends an unsolicited offer in the first place — they've noticed activity headed toward your tract before you have.

This step alone often explains an offer that otherwise looks like it came out of nowhere: somebody is positioning ahead of development, and the letter in your mailbox is evidence your acreage just became more interesting, not less.

Day 2: Get a Second Number to Compare It To

Take what you've gathered — your decimal interest or acreage, your recent royalty statements if any, and whatever nearby activity you found — and get a competing offer priced against those same facts. Comparing two real, documented offers tells you far more than trying to judge the first one in isolation, and a buyer confident in their number will walk you through how they built it rather than asking you to just trust a total.

You're not obligated to respond to the original letter on its deadline, if it has one. A genuine buyer's interest in your acreage doesn't expire in a week; pressure to sign fast without comparison is itself a signal worth weighing.