Looking to move to Shreveport (Haughton, Haynesville: mineral rights, real estate, to buy)

[Bill Schultz]

I'm looking to move to Shreveport (Actually Houghton) and would like to purchase about 5 acres and build a little cottage for me and my 4 dogs. Is anyone familiar with the price of acreage in this area? My range would be withing 30 minutes driving time from Houghton and my budget is as little as possible.

My son and his family have just moved there and I will probably follow in a year or less. If I could get a good deal on the property, I would purchase it now.

Any help will be appreciated.

Bill Schultz

[SBCmetroguy]

You are going to have a hard time negotiating on any amount of acreage, as everyone has gone "mineral rights" crazy in this part of the state lately. But if you can get ahold of a few acres and the mineral rights that go with them, you could make out like a bandit!

I work in far south Shreveport and live in Haughton, and my drive is normally 30 minutes. But with the current construction it takes anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on traffic and accidents in the construction zone.

[Bill Schultz]

SBCGuy - Thanks for the response - Just my luck! My son mentioned "mineral rights" in a recent conversation. This will definitely cause the price of property to skyrocket.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by Bill Schultz

SBCGuy - Thanks for the response - Just my luck! My son mentioned "mineral rights" in a recent conversation. This will definitely cause the price of property to skyrocket.

Definitely Google Shreveport-Bossier real estate companies, and talk to them. I assure you things have gone haywire as far as mineral rights are concerned all thoughout the Haynesville Shale (Google that as well!) But while I've heard that prices have begun to climb, I wouldn't think it's gone too high just yet. Maybe you're trying to buy at the right time, before things get too crazy. They just drilled another test well and said it was a "doozie" so things are shaping up to make this the largest natural gas discovery this nation has ever seen. Definitely try to get land before things go crazy, I can't stress that enough.

I just got a phone call from a land man the other day, but I haven't done my research on my property yet so I haven't contacted him yet. I only own a subdivision lot, so even if I stood to make anything, it wouldn't be very much compared to someone with many acres. Depending on all the variables, if you owned the mineral rights to 5 acres of land in this area, you could probably stand to make $50,000 or more initially, plus 25% royalties if/when they find gas. Over the past few weeks I've heard of people making as low as $7,500/acre to as much as $20,000/acre depending on where their land was located in this region. It seems the average right about now is around $10,000/acre. All this "mineral rights" talk is so new to me, because I've never had a reason to even think about it before the Haynesville Shale discovery came out.