Determining who owns timber rights

[Lexington]

Hey guys,

I am looking at a property being sold by a trustee at auction. There's little information available about the property available, and I'm wondering if it's possible to determine if the owner sold or traded the timber rights of the land to someone else at any point through my own research? I'd hate to close on it without knowing if someone's going to cut down all of the trees the next day, but it's almost too good of a deal to pass up.

And before you guys say there must be something wrong with it, I've done all of my other due diligence, and everything checks out. The seller seems to be distressed, and the timber rights are the only thing I'm uncertain about.

[Lexington]

bump

[EdO]

Hey guys,

I am looking at a property being sold by a trustee at auction. There's little information available about the property available, and I'm wondering if it's possible to determine if the owner sold or traded the timber rights of the land to someone else at any point through my own research? I'd hate to close on it without knowing if someone's going to cut down all of the trees the next day, but it's almost too good of a deal to pass up.

And before you guys say there must be something wrong with it, I've done all of my other due diligence, and everything checks out. The seller seems to be distressed, and the timber rights are the only thing I'm uncertain about.

I'd say that if you buy the property from the estate/trust, the timber rights go with the transfer of deed. A sale from a trust is no different than a sale from an individual. It's just that a trust is like a corporation, a group of individuals set up as a single entity. Now there may be some other factors that figure in and timber rights could be one of them. Long story short, consult an attorney that is familiar with the area. A Texas guy won't do you a lot of good in Alabama.

[Lexington]

I'd say that if you buy the property from the estate/trust, the timber rights go with the transfer of deed. A sale from a trust is no different than a sale from an individual. It's just that a trust is like a corporation, a group of individuals set up as a single entity. Now there may be some other factors that figure in and timber rights could be one of them. Long story short, consult an attorney that is familiar with the area. A Texas guy won't do you a lot of good in Alabama.

I would agree with this in most cases, but isn't possible to lease the timber rights of a property to another party without having to record it on the deed?

[Burnadell]

You will need to go to the county courthouse and search the deed records to see if a timber deed was filed.

[Burnadell]

I would agree with this in most cases, but isn't possible to lease the timber rights of a property to another party without having to record it on the deed?

You don't lease timber rights. You sell the timber and can do that separately from the land.