Just over ten and a half years ago I was working as a land agent specialising complex tax valuations, when I received a call from one of Savills’ head honchos asking me if I would like to go to his house on a Sunday morning for a cup of coffee and a chat.

I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse, a move across to the intoxicating world of residential property research. And so I began my conversion from humble chartered surveyor to supposed housing market guru.

Fast forward to 2017 and it would appear that not everyone approves of my elevated status. I recently received an email from a property investor who, it would seem, lost his first marriage worrying about the market and was almost wiped out by the last market correction.

Without wishing to dwell too much on the detail of the correspondence, he not only questioned the accuracy of my forecasting record and understanding of property cycles (it’s simply a case of seven years of feast and seven years of famine apparently) but also the general validity of my place in society.

This email happened to coincide with the inception of our forecasting process.

What, then, has been taxing our minds as we seek to maintain our enviable reputation for market insight?