An unsolicited offer is a starting point, not a valuation. Our guide to evaluating a mineral offer lists the price and contract terms to compare, and the sell mineral rights guide explains a document-first closing process.
You open the mailbox and see an envelope from a company you’ve never heard of. Inside, there’s a check for $45,000. It looks like a winning lottery ticket. Your name is on it, the amount is enticing, and the letter says all you have to do is sign the back and deposit it to sell your mineral rights.
Don’t spend that money yet.
That piece of paper likely isn’t a standard check; it’s a :Bank Draft. This is one of the oldest, dirtiest tricks in the landman’s playbook. When you sign and deposit that draft, you aren’t actually getting paid immediately. You are essentially giving that company an option to buy your property for free. They lock you down for 30, 60, or even 90 days while they run :Title Due Diligence.
If they find something they don’t like—or if the price of oil drops next week—they can simply decline to honor the draft. The bank claws the money back (if they even credited it temporarily), and you’re left with zero dollars and months of wasted time. Meanwhile, you were legally blocked from selling to a serious buyer who actually had the funds ready.
At Double Fraction, we don’t send cold checks. We believe in doing business face-to-face (or at least voice-to-voice). Real deals are done with a :PSA that protects both the buyer and the seller. If we make an offer, we put it in writing with clear terms, not a gimmick that exploits the banking system. If you get a “check” in the mail from a stranger, put it in the shredder.
A Ten-Minute Offer-Letter Triage
First, identify the sender. Confirm the legal entity, physical address, phone number and the person authorized to answer contract questions. Search the state entity record and ask whether the named buyer will fund and take title or may assign the agreement. Assignment is not automatically improper, but it changes who may control closing.
Second, identify the property. The offer should state the county, legal description, owner name and the mineral or royalty interest under discussion. Watch for language covering every interest in a county, after-acquired title, all depths or proceeds accrued before closing. A cover letter’s acreage estimate does not limit a broader deed.
Third, calculate the actual price unit. Is the number total consideration, dollars per net mineral acre or dollars per net royalty acre? What royalty assumption converts between them? Does the buyer reduce the price after title review, and can the seller terminate if the revised amount is unacceptable? Put oral assurances into the written agreement.
Fourth, inspect timing and control. Note the diligence period, closing deadline, deposit, title-defect process, access to records and any power of attorney. Avoid signing a deed intended to sit unrecorded while payment remains conditional. Use a closing process that coordinates verified funds and recordable documents.
Fifth, compare more than the headline amount. A slightly lower offer with verified funds, a short diligence period and limited reduction rights may be stronger than a higher number with broad assignment and walk-away clauses. Ask competing buyers to quote the same interest and effective date.
Finally, pause if the solicitation creates urgency unrelated to a real order, lease deadline or estate need. Commodity prices and internal “approval deadlines” do not remove the seller’s right to review documents. Texas requires a conspicuous disclosure in certain mailed mineral-purchase offers that enclose a conveyance and payment instrument; requirements vary elsewhere.
The safest response is neither automatic rejection nor automatic acceptance. Preserve the envelope and every attachment, verify the buyer, reconcile title, compare written terms and obtain independent deed review before conveying a permanent real-property interest.
If you decline, avoid signing a “receipt,” tax form or confidentiality page you have not read; a document’s effect comes from its language, not the label at the top.
:bank-draft
A financial instrument that looks like a check but functions differently. Unlike a check, which draws on existing funds immediately, a bank draft is often a “collection item” that requires the buyer to authorize payment after you deposit it. In the mineral business, it’s often used to tie up a seller’s interest without the buyer committing actual capital.
:due-diligence
The period during which a buyer researches the ownership history of a property to ensure the seller actually owns what they claim to own. This involves digging through county courthouse records to verify clear title.
:psa
Short for Purchase and Sale Agreement. This is a formal contract outlining the price, closing date, and terms of the sale. A PSA protects the seller by setting a hard deadline for the buyer to pay up or release the property.