We are now living in different times. Buy-to-let is a different shape. A different beast. This housing crisis has marked out the amateurs from the professionals.

It’s certainly sharpened my mind. That’s why I sold a bunch of places, and will continue to sell anything that no longer fits my scope or which I don’t believe will be economically viable to hit the likely new EPC grades come 2030.

The buy-to-let business used to be easy. It probably should never have been so easy. I probably shouldn’t have ever been allowed to get into mammoth amounts of debt to buy properties. 

My focus for the future is on getting out of debt. I don’t want to be a buy-to-let bank hostage. I’m sick and tired of their rapacious fees and charges, and nonsensical hurdles to clamber over. Plus, it’s not tax-efficient any more – and so I need to adapt.

And that’s the key thing many property commentators forget when they talk about landlords and the buy-to-let market. Because among all the doom and gloom, you have the serious players who have been around long enough to understand the opportunities that lie ahead. The demand for rental accommodation is overwhelming, and shows no signs of abating.  

Buy-to-let is a business, and like any other business, it changes. For too long people have been distracted by how easy it was to make money from property. They forgot to learn the basics, the 101 of customer service (tenants are customers!), the importance of cash flow. 

Maybe now is the time when those of us who treat buy-to-let like a business, and being a landlord like a job, can get on and do the job properly. 

The Secret Landlord is a monthly column by an anonymous buy-to-let investor. Email: secretlandlord@telegraph.co.uk