I will admit that I tend to use templates in many cases. Mostly because I don't have the resources / knowledge to do every aspect of the design. (i.e Photoshop, Flash) I am fairly good with HTML and PHP, so I tend to be attracted to that part of design... the architecture.
I have found though that even the best "template" needs to be tweaked and modified to be effective and even attractive when actually used... you know, with real content!
If your focus is on the asthetic design of a website, then why not develop templates for others to buy from you? Some of those templates out there that are sweet as hell are also VERY expensive (if you want exclusive rights to it especially!)