WE ARE IN THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF OF AN OIL LEASE IN WELD CO. THAT TO THIS POINT HAS
NOT DONE ANYTHING. IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS WE HAVE RECIEVED 6 FEELER LETTERS IN
REGARD TO LEASING THE MINERAL RIGHTS AND IN SOME SELLING THEM. WE ARE LOCATED
OUT OF STATE AND HAVE LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT TO EXPECT OR HOW TO DEAL WITH
IT. WOULD WE BE ABLE TO SELL THE RIGHTS WITH THE CURRENT LEASE IN EFFECT OR DO WE
HAVE TO WAIT FOR IT TO EXPIRE.
ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS, GARY CLEMENTS
Gary, you can sell the minerals themselves while they are subject to the lease.
Lease then sell is not a strategy that I like, I think the lease can devalue the property even if the buyer intends to lease the property in the future because being professionals, they would probably negotiate a better lease. The buyer could choose to participate in a well and unleased acres could be much more valuable to them.
If you wait 1.5 years, you might lease the acres again. I would consider how much I might lease my acres for in the next cycle and deduct that from the sales price. I would also deduct capital gains tax up to 15% from the gross sale price to determine just what I would wind up with in the sale.
You are the only one who can determine what is best for your financial situation but I would want to sell the acres unencumbered with a lease if I could. The flip side of that is that in a year and a half, interest in the area could decline. A well might also be drilled in the next 1.5 years and that might be better than a sale. It's alot of factors to juggle.
Once again, you can sell the acres while they are leased.