A check for eleven dollars a month, a 1099 every January, a division order every time the operator changes, and every buyer who wrote to you last year has gone quiet since you replied. We buy small interests, and this page explains what yours is probably worth before you call anyone.
Not snobbery. Arithmetic. Every purchase costs roughly the same to execute regardless of size: run title, examine the chain, draft and record a deed, handle the transfer orders with each operator, and file the paperwork. That fixed cost runs several hundred dollars and up on even the simplest transaction. A fund with a minimum check size of fifty thousand dollars will not spend it on a two thousand dollar interest, so they do not respond, and they do not tell you why.
The result is a market failure that costs small owners real money. Owners assume no response means no value, and eventually accept whatever the one buyer who does respond offers.
The same method applies as to a large one. Nothing about being small changes what the wells produce or how they decline. Our valuation page explains the approach. Three practical notes for small interests specifically:
The thing we most often tell small owners: your interest may be larger than you think. Owners routinely know about one well and own an interest across several sections, some of which are permitted and undrilled. We check all of it.
An honest ledger.
| Reasons to keep | Reasons to sell |
|---|---|
| Family land, and the sentiment is real | The annual paperwork exceeds the annual income |
| Active permitting nearby that has not been drilled yet | You file a nonresident state return solely because of it |
| The check is meaningful to your budget | It is one of many small assets you are consolidating |
| You want your heirs to have it | You do not want your heirs to have to deal with it |
That last row is the one to sit with. A small interest divided among three children becomes three smaller interests, then nine, then twenty seven. Each generation inherits more paperwork and less money, until eventually the interest is worth less than the probate needed to move it, and it goes into suspense forever. A significant share of the unclaimed royalty money sitting at state treasurers comes from exactly this. Some owners sell specifically to avoid handing their children a problem, and that is a legitimate reason.
Equally, we will tell you to keep it when keeping is right. Our when not to sell page is the version of this we published against our own interest.
Why we can: we run title ourselves rather than outsourcing it, we hold rather than flipping, and consolidating fractional ownership in areas we already own in is the actual business. Small interests are not a favor we do. They are what we buy.
Very common with small interests, since a non-producing one generates no statement of any kind. A check stub, an old division order, a 1099, a tax return with royalty income, or just a county and a family name is enough for us to start. We run the county records and the state regulator files and tell you what we find, free, whether or not you sell. If money has been sitting in suspense, we will tell you how to claim it and you keep it.
A check stub, a 1099, a deed, or a county and a name. We will tell you what you own, what it is worth, and whether selling makes sense. No minimum, no obligation, and a real answer either way.
Get a Free Valuation Ask a LandmanBerlin Royalties is a mineral buyer and a landman shop in Tulsa. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice. Values described are general and depend entirely on the specific wells, acreage, and area. Last reviewed August 2026.