Part of value, therefore, of a seasoned mortgage broker, is accumulating and honing these performance-based lender relationships to a fine edge so they can be brought to bear on an individual borrower’s transaction.

At a sophisticated level, commercial real estate financing requires finesse, experience and aforementioned carefully cultivated, time-tested array of “arrows” in broker’s “quiver”. Or, to state it more generically: to be effective, one needs right tool at right time to accomplish a particular job.

What are implications of all this for borrower? In return for a mortgage brokerage fee, all these time-tested lender relationships and broker’s insight, judgment and advisory skills are leveraged by borrower for a finite period of time without need to employ such expertise on a permanent basis. All in all, I’d say it’s an amazingly efficient arrangement.

So, who should you turn to when it’s time to reach out to a broker? Which company should you choose? As in any endeavor, there’s a pyramid of quality and expertise: plenty of mediocrity at bottom, some decent performers in middle and a small number of virtuosos at top. As in choosing a doctor, a lawyer, a contractor or a vacation, nothing beats a word-of-mouth recommendation from someone you know and trust. Next there’s old-fashioned due-diligence which would include doing a web search and reviewing newspaper articles (for example its easy to search archives of NY Times), calling accountants and lawyers active in real estate for recommendations, and asking for references from broker’s past clients. Ultimately, it will come down to a face-to-face meeting, answers to your questions, and your gut feeling about broker, his ethics and his company. The depth of organization is quite important because a great broker must have top-notch administrative, analytical and processing support to be your optimal choice.

For first time in several years U.S. dollar has managed to gain value against world’s other major currencies. During first three months of 2005, U.S. dollar is up approximately five percent against both yen and euro. The gains for dollar should be considered significant when considering United States still faces a growing trade imbalance. So far this year, currency traders have shifted their focus from United States’ large trade and current account shortfalls toward higher rates of returns being offered on U.S. debt. The recent strength shown in dollar has somewhat shifted sentiment within financial markets about future direction of currency. A Bloomberg survey released earlier this week shows that major currency traders expect to see dollar weakness resume later in year, but sentiment among dollar bears is much weaker than it was at start of year.