Buscadores de casas

Especially when you get to see the interiors of so many differently styled homes, some with breathtaking oceanfront views or distant mountains and valleys providing the terrace with eye candy.

What gets me is the insistence that no kitchen is complete or saleable without granite counter-top, that every home has to have at least three bathrooms, that a master bedroom is too small if it's anything less than 14' x 18', and that any room featuring wallpaper is an absolute no no.

Interesting too, to see couples (interracial, hetero or gay) viewing the properties together, some couples looking about as ill-matched as you could possibly imagine but obviously each couple totally committed to living together indefinitely in homes that range from 200,000 to 1.5 million of U.S. dollars, and often basing their decisions on how big the yard is for their beloved dog or how safe the yard is to accommodate kids and pets when it lacks a proper fence.

Even more fascinating is House Hunters International which shows the vast difference in standards between European and American real estate markets, along with some gorgeous scenery in exotic settings which compensates (sometimes) for a certain lack of craftsmanship in utilities.