> Residential properties usually have short term leases. You have minimal incentive as a tenant to plant flowers, buy shrubs, etc. You have minimal inventive as a landlord to make the house look any more attractive than it needs to be.

That's because homeownership is a norm for long-term residents here in the USA. If long term renting were as much (or more) of a norm, an average renter would experience the same incentive to keep the place in an aesthetically pleasing state as an average owner, and landlords would have to make their properties much more attractive in order to have tenants.