The Lemon Fool

Other than a possible saving in interest payments, Is there any advantage to clearing a mortgage before selling a property.
Or put another way, would the vendor save money on legal costs and disbursements? (Maybe the cost of sending the funds to the lender)
Does it make life easier at all on the purchaser's side?

Note that I know that the vendor's solicitor will hold the proceeds on trust to discharge any mortgage due, but the scenario I'm looking at is a minimal mortgage (sub £1k), which the vendor could use to discharge the mortgage themselves without paying any CHAPS fees, or the solicitor triggering charges for a repeat redemption statement (happened once to me).

PochiSoldi

I'm inclined not to, as if you find a quick buyer their searches might reveal old records saying there is a mortgage, while in actual fact it is mortgage-free.

This could lead to some delay in resolving it and getting everyone convinced, prior to getting the deal completed.

I paid off a mortgage a little while before putting a house on the market, and told my solicitor there was no mortgage. As Mike4 suggests, this caused confusion because the details hadn't worked their way through the system. If you've got a few months leeway so that the Land Registry documents are up to date, I guess you might get some small savings on fees.

My conclusion is that unless I redeem the mortgage (with charge/mortgage showing as removed at LR) before the property went on the market , I would be better off overpaying but not redeeming the mortgage, as any reduction in costs would be minimal compared to the possible shenanigans that might arise.

Thanks for your input
PochiSoldi