The people behind the sign
Every Brownsett agent covers a patch they know well and looks after a deliberately small number of homes, from first hello to completion. Your agent does your viewings and answers your calls, and nobody hands your sale on halfway through.
MichaelBrownsett
Bradford born and bred. Husband, dad and dog dad.
I started Brownsett to do estate agency the opposite way round to the big chains: fewer homes, more care, and a straight answer even when it isn’t the one you were hoping for.
More than an estate agent
I’m Michael, a Bradford man, born and bred. Before the “For Sale” boards and the valuations, I’m a husband and a dad, and the same person on a Sunday morning as I am on a Tuesday viewing. I believe selling a home is a personal thing, so I keep the homes I look after to a deliberately small number, from first hello to final completion. When you ring, it is my phone that rings. When a buyer walks through your hall, it is me showing them round, and nobody hands your sale to someone else halfway through.
I started out because I was frustrated by how the big agencies treat people, like a number on a target sheet. Homes were listed and then left alone, updates arrived only when the seller chased for them, and the honest conversation was the one nobody wanted to have. If a price is too ambitious for the market you are actually in, I would far rather say so at your kitchen table in the first week than watch your home sit there for six months.
That is the standard every Brownsett agent now works to: a handful of families looked after properly, and every home given the photography, the film and the care that most agencies save for their biggest instructions.
eXp UK Best Newcomer, 2025
The night eXp UK named me Best Newcomer, recognition for building something a bit different: a boutique, personal agency that puts service before volume. Awards are not the reason I do this, but they do tell you the way we work stands up when people from outside Bradford look at it closely.
A few of Michael’s hats
My kids keep me grounded, and remind me every home is somebody’s family.
A partner in life and in the business; we do this as a team.
Bradford born and bred. I sell the streets I actually live on.
Never far from my four-legged sidekick. Walks are where I do my best thinking.
The one who does your viewings and answers your calls, personally.
“I’d rather sell ten homes properly than a hundred badly. Your move only happens once, and it deserves an agent who treats it that way.”
Local roots, and a reason I do this
Family comes first for me. My wife is part of this business as well as my life, so looking after your sale really is a family concern. That’s exactly why I understand what moving means to your family: it isn’t a transaction, it’s the next chapter.
I know these streets because I live on them. When I tell a buyer about the walk to the park, the good school catchment or the quiet end of the road, it’s because I’ve been there, not because I read it on a listing. I have walked the dog past most of these houses at some point, usually far too early in the morning.
“Selling a home is about people first. Get that right and the result follows.”
A bit more about Michael
What every Brownsett agent promises
The agent who values your home markets it, shows buyers round and sees it through to completion. No call centre, no handing over.
Each of us covers the streets we live and work on, so buyers hear about the walk to the park from someone who has done it.
Photography, film, floor plans and weekly updates on every instruction, whichever agent is yours.
Recognised for doing it differently
We didn’t set out to win anything. We set out to sell homes properly. So being recognised twice, by the industry and by Yorkshire, means an enormous amount. The real measure is still a happy seller and a smooth completion, but we’d be lying if we said these weren’t on the wall.
Best Newcomer, 2025
eXp is one of the largest estate agency networks in the world, and Best Newcomer recognises the strongest start made by an agent joining it. Michael started Brownsett from nothing: no high-street office, no inherited client list, just a phone, a camera and a promise to do this properly. To be picked out in the first year still hasn’t quite sunk in.
Best Independent Estate Agent, 2026/27
The Prestige Awards celebrate independent businesses across Yorkshire, the ones competing on craft and service rather than sheer size. To be named the county’s best independent estate agent, while still a one-man agency up against firms many times the size, is genuinely humbling.
Now we’ve said hello. Let’s have a chat.
Whether you’re ready to move or just weighing it up, we’ll put you with the agent who covers your street. No pressure, no jargon.