New Site - looking for feeback?

I never made it past the green stripes. Those stripes made me want to leave kicking and screaming.

Took a quick look. Although I began in the Canadian section - the link to privacy took me (and kept me) in the UK section.

Given that you have a flag clearly displayed on each page that tells/reminds the visitor (as if they would have forgotten) what part of the world they are looking in - why bother with using a distinctly different page background and colour scheme for different countries? I actually think that the striped backgrounds detract from the quality of the site.

Would you kill the strips, kill the green or both?

I actually kind of like the stripes. They add interest to the background and some texture to the site as well. They also have a nice fresh, clean feeling and kind of remind me of wallpaper for some reason (which reminds me of houses).

The rest of the design looks really good too. THe only problems I have are with the pictures across the top - the words on them don't seem quite right to me (smile, live, grow, dream). I would just take those off of the pictures and change one or two of them to pictures of houses with or without people instead of just people. The text on the tabs across the top should be a little bigger or darker too - it's a little bit hard to read.

Oooh! I love the way you've changed the colours for each section - great idea. The yellowey-green on the "service providers" page is kind of pukey looking though.

To me the biggest problem with the stripes was that my eyes kept focusing on them and not where they should be focused. Maybe it is the color but if someone's eyeballs fixate on them, your site is in trouble. Artistically I think the stripes are ok. Functionality is the problem. I would look at them like I would a person's hands when they are speaking. A person's hands can be used to make the message better or if that person is cracking knuckles, wringing hands, etc., they can detract from the message. If you can do something, ie changing colors, making a solid color, your message might be better received.

I have no problem with the stripes - they're so narrow it just sorta blurs anyway - maybe I need glasses - I did seem to have problems navigating - might wanna run some trials and see how people unfamiliar with the system react - the thing that really bothers me is the flashing text - personally, I find that intolerable - and I also shudder when I see this new photo angle everybody seems to want to use looking down at people with their tilting head and tiny feet - ARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! - but then, I'm not looking to buy or sell real estate, so... - anyway, the general appearance of the site is pretty good, I'd say - I think you could benefit, however, from a thorough copyedit - I used to do these for nothing, but I can't get the same deal from my local utilities / merchants / etc., so I'm trying to stop - I know you're not supposed to make business pitches in these fora, but for a nominal fee, I think I could make your text a lot more readable - e.g., this sentence, "The immediacy and convenience of information has never been so accessible as it is today.", just does not work for me - it's the info that's accessible, not immediacy and convenience, right? - how about, "Information on properties can now be accessed more quickly and easily than ever before."