About us
We are Marc and Marieke. We bought a house in Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, on the Mediterranean coast of the Pyrénées-Orientales, and we learned the French buying process the hard way. This site is everything we wish someone had told us.
Why this site exists
When we started looking, we did most things in the wrong order. We searched by département and drowned in listings. We looked for a French Rightmove that doesn’t exist. We skimmed a sixty-page survey pack in French and missed the two things that mattered. None of it was a disaster, but all of it cost time and some of it cost money.
Marc has spent more than thirty years in marketing, with brands such as Heineken, Tefal and the Dutch railways. Turning complicated processes into something people can actually use is what he does for a living. So after our own purchase he built a Dutch-language guide and a set of free tools, eenhuiskopeninfrankrijk.nl. French House Hunt is the English version, rewritten for buyers from the UK and Ireland, including the things that changed for British buyers after Brexit.
- Practical, not promotional. We explain the process; we don’t sell houses.
- Independent. No commission on sales, no paid listings.
- Honest about the catches. Drought, wind, septic tanks, the 90/180 rule: we tell you before you sign, not after.
Our partner agent in the Pyrénées-Orientales
Liam Gall is an Irish estate agent who has lived in France for around thirty years. He works across the whole Pyrénées-Orientales, from the Albères to the Fenouillèdes, with eXp France in Argelès-sur-Mer, in English and French.
If you use the Search Helper for the Pyrénées-Orientales and tick the box yourself, Liam receives your search profile and email address so he can send you suitable houses. That box is always unticked by default, and you can withdraw at any time. You can also contact him directly through liamgall.com.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections or ideas for a tool: use the contact form or email info@frenchhousehunt.com. We can’t give legal or tax advice on individual cases, but we read everything.