Short answer：Contacts can provide leads without making them accurate or privileged opportunities. Check provenance, dates, incentives and permissible use.
Ask the appropriate role
Agents, management, solicitors and banks answer different questions. Familiarity should not make one contact a substitute for all documentary and professional checks.
Keep traceable records
Treat oral information as a lead to confirm with records or independent evidence. Obtain and share personal information only for appropriate purposes and with proper authority, not as a networking currency.
Before deciding
- Record dates and verification status
- Understand referral or agency interests
- Confirm important promises in writing
Sources and method
Sources support the specific rules described. Checklists and hypothetical calculations are editorial explanations, not measured market results or individual approvals.
Revision：Removed unsupported experience, case outcomes and statistics; corrected the topic-specific rules and limitations described above.
Scope：General information only, not personalised legal, tax, immigration, admissions or investment advice.