Wytex Ranch (Casper, Gillette, Sheridan: mineral rights, for sale, crime)

[bzbzlady]

Acres and acres of land for sale. Does anyone know what is planned for this area? It has been selling since about 1998. Looks like it is primarily used to graze cattle. There are a couple of roads, but nothing else out there except antelope.

[Wyomiles]

Well BZ, it is pretty isolated, which is not all bad. Great prices for land. Make sure it has water, if you are going to live there. As an investment it probobly is not a bad one. Wyoming is in an energy boom and so there are lots of people moving there to work. You might be aware that the gas companies might drill on the property if they think there is gas under the land. So see what kind of activity is going on in that area. Best thing to do would be to go see it in person if you can. Wyomiles

[MHT]

Originally Posted by bzbzlady

Acres and acres of land for sale. Does anyone know what is planned for this area? It has been selling since about 1998. Looks like it is primarily used to graze cattle. There are a couple of roads, but nothing else out there except antelope.

The reason that the land is well priced is because of the location. Very isolated. Windy, no trees and it can be hard to get water. Rock River and Medicine Bow are very, very small towns. It will be quite a drive to get anywhere for groceries, etc. I'm not sure what you mean by what is planned for this area. Nothing is planned. Those acreages are mostly being sold to people from out of state who want a "ranch in WY", or for get-away places. They are fairly close to public land for hunting so that is a draw. Never, ever buy a place without looking at it first - at least twice.

[bzbzlady]

Thank you everyone for the reply's on WY TEX Ranch. I was putting out my feelers and the information is well received. We did go out to look at the land before we purchased it and loved it. We used to have some land in New Mexico, but Wyoming is so much nicer. I have heard that alot of this land was purchased on the net, sight unseen. It appears that this area has been selling since about 1997. Prices for acreage have about doubled since then. I could see that some areas were called phase 2 phase 3 and so on. That's why I was wondering if anything was planned as far as more development. I actually am glad to hear not much will change in the area in my life time. We are the kind of people that are "ok" with going to town once every month or two for supplies. The area is beautiful with antelope everywhere! It really is out away from everything, but I guess that's really what we are looking for as we are retiring and currently live in Washington State. Lots of peace and quiet. We will be back in the spring to get things going, and I hope to meet at least one of the neighbors in the area. If we build right and plan correctly for water, wind and weather, hopefully everything will be great.
As far as the RANCH part goes,....well, that's another story.

[Little pony]

I bought 106 acres a couple of years ago at wytex. Finally, we are going to start building a place this summer. Waiting for the well paperwork to go through at the moment. Then we are going to have a fun time trying to get someone out there this summer to drill. Seems that we are always waiting for something.
We are from California and plan to retire there someday. Till then, it will be our summer home. Southern CA is getting too expensive and crime filled. During the summer, people start going crazy in the heat and are always angry. We need to get out of CA. Ill put up with snow any day instead of these idiots. We cant even let the kids leave thier bikes in a fenced yard without worrying about them getting stolen.
I am looking forward to meeting my new nieghbors at wytex also. I would like to be part of a good place to be proud of. It is a beautiful place. It is going to take a long time to build but it will be worth it. We plan to build a decient mini ranch/farm there.
We have been watching the population growth creeping towards Wytex. Within the next 10 years, there should be quite a lot of housing poping up. Just look what has been happening all around. The area around ft collins grew within just 2 years. Gillette is getting tons of people this past year. Casper is getting alot of the overflow of people already. We are not that far from casper. You cant stop so called progress.

[dc53]

If you buy the land, the former owners will want to keep 'mineral rights'- that means that if someone ever drills, finds, coal, diamonds (yeah, sure), anything of value, you cannot get the proceeds from the income. The oil holders are trying to make a deal that they can drill on private land, even if you don't want them to. So, be careful, it might not be such a bargin!

[ElkHunter]

I'd be very careful. Recently, up here in Sheridan, there was 640 acres for sale. House, barn, sheds, and equipment. $34,000. really sounded like a deal. Until......

The land is located at the end of 16 miles of unencumbered road. That means that it is not maintained by the county. During the winter, it's not plowed. So you end up with this lovely 640 acres that you'd better be at the house in October because you're not going to get out until April.

If you looked at the land, what time of year was it? Drive out to the same property at the end of January. Can you still get there? Are there school busses that run out there? I realize you may or may not have kids in school, but if a school bus runs out there, then it's incumbered road. In other words, the county maintains it.

Long story short, if the county maintains, great. If keeping the road up is up to the residents, is it worth another $600 a month just to keep your driveway open? Just food for thought.

[MHT]

Originally Posted by dc53

If you buy the land, the former owners will want to keep 'mineral rights'- that means that if someone ever drills, finds, coal, diamonds (yeah, sure), anything of value, you cannot get the proceeds from the income. The oil holders are trying to make a deal that they can drill on private land, even if you don't want them to. So, be careful, it might not be such a bargin!

Not all sellers want to keep their mineral rights. It is usually phrased as, "all mineral rights owned by the seller." Almost all of the mineral rights in WY are owned by the state. There are very, very, very few parcels of land where 100% of the mineral rights are owned by the "surface" land owner. There are people whose only job in Gillette is researching who owns what mineral rights.

All property owners are paid for surface rights if there is any drilling on their property. What they are paid is negotiatable.

[Dir Drill 1]

Originally Posted by MHT

Not all sellers want to keep their mineral rights. It is usually phrased as, "all mineral rights owned by the seller." Almost all of the mineral rights in WY are owned by the state. There are very, very, very few parcels of land where 100% of the mineral rights are owned by the "surface" land owner. There are people whose only job in Gillette is researching who owns what mineral rights.

All property owners are paid for surface rights if there is any drilling on their property. What they are paid is negotiatable.

Right on the money...

As an Oil Driller, I can tell you that the footprint we leave in particular is extremely small.. If and when someone ever approached you about drilling on your land, there is quite a bit of negotiating you can do besides just $$$$.. You can negotiate for trees to be planted, custom fencing around wellheads, etc. that matches the colors or features in the area, you can even have improvements done to your driveways, your roads, etc... There is no limit to what you can negotiate for, just be reasonable and most often the company holding your mineral rights will be too...

[YOU-CANT-EAT-SCENERY]

Great thread. Food for thought, when it comes time for that property search