I have only cashed out small amounts of money and for that local bitcoins is a great way to do it, you just put there the mount of bitcoin you want to sell, if you want to get a fast sell just give a fair price and you will have a buyer in no time, if you use a face to face trade you can cash out without any problem and without leaving a trail but if you want to cash out a big amount of money you will have to use an exchange.