I love the process of house hunting, seeing what's on the market, how people decorate and style their house, and trying to imagine if I could live there. Did a lot of that the last couple of years.
The actual buying the house process can be quite frustrating in the UK, that's the part I hate most as there's a lot of uncertainty. Once that's over, building up my home and putting my own mark is nice. Seeing how things all come together, from a blank canvas, to me filling it with decor and furniture. Sitting down and looking around, thinking, this is my home. So rewarding.
Even now, sometimes I still look online to see what's on the market, just to entertain myself.
Looking doesn't have to be a bad process but at the moment it's quite frustrating for people as price expectation is high as is demand. With the quality real of estate agent dropping (skills and ethics) it's becoming a harder process. They cut corners, act against legislative requirements and lack work ethic which leaves most buyers (who are even more clueless) in a bad position...the vendors too really although they often get their price so think they did well. It's like anything these days I guess, quality declines.
As for looking at houses, I understand what you're saying but for many who are often quite pressured it can be a terrible experience these days. Never used to be.