If you want to move to France, where do you start? For many of us, the dream of a new life in France begins with looking at what house we can buy, but it’s hard to know where to look. A new website aims to make it easy to go house-hunting in France via the internet!
“The French property market offers such great value that it can be distracting, particularly for British and American buyers,” says Phil Coley, founder of the website For Sale in France. “There are so many great properties for sale across the country, though the house you live in is only one part of the experience of moving to France.”
Phil would know: in 2017, he and his wife, Kirsti, came to Bellac, 40km north of Limoges and bought a completely run-down house for £25,000. They ended up moving here permanently, starting a family and Phil began a YouTube channel in late 2023 to share experience as well as offering practical information about the realities of moving to France.
Responding to the market
“The YouTube channel became so popular that we started a website ‘A New Life in France‘,” explains Phil, “then we realised that people kept asking the same questions. Where can I find a house to buy in France? Which French regions are best for expats? Can I still move to France after Brexit?
“In June 2025, we launched ‘For Sale in France’, a website that lists thousands of properties currently on the market. The agents that work with us cover the entire country, and every single listing is in English. There are listings for all tastes and budgets, including renovation projects, building plots and rural family homes, as well as elegant French villas, châteaux and luxury apartments in the Côte-d’Azur.
“Alongside all this, the website points to answers on a whole range of questions about relocating to France. Which region would be best for me? How do I retire to France? How can I start a gîte business? How much does it cost to live in France? After all, finding the ideal house is only one part of creating your dream life in France.”
What makes the site unique
Phil still has a significant interest in a marketing business in the UK which was founded in 2012, and he made a radical marketing decision when he set up ‘For Sale in France’. Estate agents are invited to list their properties at no charge: they don’t pay a fee to join, and there’s no commission involved.
“In real terms, this means that we’re a huge resource for anyone looking to buy a place in France,” says Phil. “By offering a platform that’s free for the agents, we attract thousands of listings, so if you’re a buyer, you’ll almost certainly find what you’re looking for on our site. Your online enquiry is sent directly to the agent, with no fees or commissions to pay by the agent to us.
“The simplicity of the process made the site incredibly popular very quickly. That amount of traffic in turn generates a lot of ad revenue plus significant partnerships, and that’s where we get our income, so it’s a win-win for everyone.”
Growing every day
‘For Sale in France’ already lists several thousand properties currently on the market in France, but Phil plans to continue expanding. The website launched in June this year and in its third month hit over 100,000 unique visitors to the site.
“We want every real estate agent in France to be able to advertise their properties with us,” he says, “and we want our potential buyers to have the biggest possible selection of houses to choose from. Behind all of that, we want to give the very best service to every single person that we work with.
“Buying a house is one of the biggest decisions you can make in life, and if you’re doing that in a different country, you need to feel reassured,” explains Phil. “That’s why our process is clear, simple, and backed up with so much additional information about relocating to France and building your new life here.”
Multi-platform services
Unlike some listing websites that are purely focused on the properties, ‘For Sale in France’ gives its house-hunters access to fact files and first-hand experiences. From the main website, you can click through to Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and other social-media platforms that offer a surprising range of additional content.
“We’re aiming to educate about life in France,” says Phil, “encouraging people to ask the right questions about what they’re looking for and what they want to leave behind. This helps house-buyers to know which part of France will suit them best, what the climate is like in different French regions, and what their property budget will get them.
“Not only does France have a fascinating diversity in its regional culture, but that diversity is reflected in the property types, too. Our website links to YouTube videos showcasing various regions or featuring four properties within a certain price bracket in different parts of France, so you can get an idea of how far your budget will go. You can also link through to video interviews of other people who have relocated to France and hear their stories. We want our site to list more French properties for sale than you will find anywhere else, but we aim to offer so much more and do that across all the platforms available.”
About the team
The team at ‘For Sale in France’ is vital to its success. Alongside Phil’s marketing expertise, the other two partners on the senior management team are Mark Pearce, with an accounting background, and the fully bilingual Joanna Carré, with a background in law and compliance.
Each of the partners also has personal experience of buying residential and/or commercial properties in France, so when they’re writing about the processes of house-hunting and settling into daily life in France, they are nearly always first-hand accounts.
What might you find?
Why not take a look at For Sale in France and see which properties catch your eye? Whether you know exactly what you’re looking for or you simply feel curious about houses for sale in France, it’s guaranteed that you’ll be fascinated by this website!
