Where a licence or registration exists — the Israel Bar for lawyers, the licensing regime for appraisers and inspectors, financial regulation for brokers and currency firms — we check it is current before we introduce anyone, and we check it again periodically rather than once.

Beyond the paperwork we look at the things that actually decide whether a remote purchase goes well. Do they work in English properly, in writing as well as on the phone, so you have a record you can read. Do they answer when the person asking is five or eight hours behind and cannot walk into the office.

Have they handled non-resident and oleh files often enough that the unusual parts — a power of attorney signed abroad, funds arriving from a foreign account, a purchase-tax track that has to be claimed — are routine rather than a first.

And will they tell a client something they would rather not hear, which is the single quality separating a professional worth introducing from one who is simply pleasant to deal with.

We remove people. A firm that was excellent three years ago and is now slow, or has grown past the point where your file gets attention, comes off the list.