I think they call this a "less than arms length transaction."

My brother and I will, hopefully, be selling our inherited house this summer. The neighbor across the street has expressed an interest in purchasing it. He wants it for his niece to live in apparently, and apparently can pay cash.

If we reach a deal before putting the house on the market, can it all be done without realtors getting involved? Are there any other savings in such a deal?

Risks? Pitfalls? 

Yes and doing so will save you a lot of money. The biggest risk is that you don't know what the house is worth, but if you can get an ibuyer offer or even an appraisal that pitfall goes away, just go to an escrow company and ask them to handle the transaction.

Originally posted by @Aaron K. :

Yes and doing so will save you a lot of money.  The biggest risk is that you don't know what the house is worth, but if you can get an ibuyer offer or even an appraisal that pitfall goes away, just go to an escrow company and ask them to handle the transaction.

 How much lower would an iBuyer offer be? There are reasons other than a potential "good deal" that this guy is interested in our house - a place for his niece, some control over who is neighbors are etc. He may be willing to pay close to full market value, in other words. 

@Christopher Olsen ibuyer offers aim to be at market price before fees, in jurisdictions where they can share comps they usually do.  The main idea is making sure you don't sell for $50k or $100k less than the property is worth, it is possible the neighbor doesn't know the true value either.  Also possible that he's one of those annoying people who'll pay you $20k more than you bought it for and think you're getting a deal, nevermind the house was originally bought in the 1970s or something.

Redfin: $395,000

Zillow: $456,000

Realtor: $419,500

Median price per square foot x Square footage: $425,000

2018 remodel (down to the studs), the house is turnkey. 

I'm pretty sure the neighbor knows all of this, and also knows that we know all if it too. He's not stupid and knows we aren't either. 

@Christopher Olsen I don't mean the Zestimate/ Redfin estimate, I mean actually get an offer from an iBuyer, that way a human might actually look at it instead of just an algorithm assuming it is available in your city.  Opendoor, Zillow, OfferPad

@Christopher Olsen

This should still be an arms length transaction. If you guys agree on a price, I wouldn’t go crazy with iBuyer. If you wanted to know the truer market value, you’d be listing it yourself or through a Realtor. As it stands, sites like Zillow show you the sold properties and their prices (as long as you are in a disclosure state).

Just make sure you do you due diligence. I don’t know your locality’s requirements and customs, but it could be a good idea to engage and attorney. You are saving so much in not having to pay a commission. An extra $1k in cost seems reasonable to make sure everything is covered