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In our depressed economy, a seller has to do more for their property to make it attractive on the market.
It is trite in real estate dealings that property deals are won or lost at the gate to the property.
The most important question to ask oneself is: “What is the buyer’s first impression when they arrive at my house?”
A large percentage of home buyers decide whether to consider purchasing a house the moment they arrive at the main gate.
In my dealings, I have experienced situations where the potential buyer requests a drive-by before even considering going inside to inspect the property.
I personally believe that the landscape reflects the owner’s care for the property and that “passion” is easy to sell.
Where the property has a barren exterior or yard the house has to be close to perfect, as the attention of the potential buyer is confined to the building itself and its saleable features or lack off.
I know of property transactions that fell through because the house lacked indigenous trees.
The beauty about landscaping is that it does not regard the size of the property, all property sizes can be landscaped to suit individual sizes and character.
It is not also the preserve of the rich, but it is something that anyone with a real passion for property investment should consider.
I will try to list the effect that flowers (as one aspect of landscaping) and using roses as a prime example have on the psyche or sub-conscience of the potential buyer. 
Yellow roses create a feeling of relaxation and signify happiness and energy. They work well in large gardens because the plants appear closer than they are.
White roses create a feeling of peace and serenity, they are both neutral and bright when mixed with other colours.
Red is the strongest emotional colour, representing both love and danger. Although they are the most common, they are best not used en masse in small gardens but blended with different colours. Pink imparts feelings of caring and tenderness and a sense of                            calm.
The subtle emotional provocation created by such gardens, especially if benches or chairs accompany the home garden that allow the potential buyer to get a feel or reaction from the general ambience created by the seller’s choice of landscaping will go a longer way than a 1 000 convincing words. 
Where one adds something in landscaping this can make the house saleable, but the reverse is also true as in some instances, where removing an aspect of the landscape can make the property easier to sell.
This is normal in situations where the landscape is not in sync with the character of the house or represents overgrown or haphazard planting.
Landscaping adds between 7-15 percentage of the property value so the seller should seriously consider how they are going to landscape their property.
With this in mind, the person who intends to sell their property should first attempt an impassioned property check.
This can be done by parking across the street and asking oneself:
l “What is the first impression of the house and yard area?
l “What are the best features of house and landscape, and how can they be enhanced?
l “What are the worst features of the house and how can they be improved?”
After undergoing a daylight assessment of the property from across the road, it is important to review the assessment at dusk.
At this time, one can check the lighting and the evening feel that the property exudes.
These exercises are important because the potential buyer in their decision-making process might decide to pass or drive by the property several times either out of excitement or for final verification purposes.
The property must be in a position to sell itself in the absence of an influencing party.
One should not forget to attend to the basics that are mowing the lawn, weeding, cleaning gutters and trimming trees especially the limbs that are edging towards the house roof.
Clear driveways and sidewalks of vegetation and do a thorough clean-up of the property.

l Vengai Madzima is a property investment consultant and analyst with Wisdom Properties Real       Estate. He can be contacted on 0772 468093 email: [email protected] or twitter@wisdomproperties_zw