Hi Everyone,

Yes, AI translations in real estate business are fast and seem easy, but they might bring you troubles, and now we will see why - on some examples.

1.Irregularities in the original real estate texts, including abbreviations.

Who writes a property description for listings and ads? Usually it’s a realtor and as any other professionals, realtors often put in abbreviations and slang words widely used in their profession.

A human translator experienced in real estate would know them of course, but AI would translate literally word-for-word or leave without translating. It would make your property description look strange and confusing, and sometimes diminish the value of your ad down to zero.

Example: “1-bedroom” or “1-bed” or “1 b/r” in American English means an apartment with a bedroom and a living room which in Russian would be called “2-room”.

I’ve used to see AI-translated listings where it says “1-room” or even “one bed” which is not just confusing, but actually would make your advertising money spent uselessly after all, as nobody is going to read further about a dwelling which contains only 1 bed (why?).

2.Terminologies.

It’s a big issue as sometimes there’s no good term in the target language or none at all. A knowledgeable human translator would find the way out of the situation, while AI would simply stumble.

Example: “Infinity pool” in English has no good equivalent in Russian, and AI translations that I see in listings are awkward or not really true - like “pool with no end” (what’s that?).

As we deal with a marketing text here and want the property to look attractive, I’d suggest to toss in the target text something like “large pool where you enjoy the ocean views while swimming” (or similar depending on the environment).

3.Numbers.

Of course you want the visitors of your online presentation to fully understand the sizes of the home and lot, distances from airports, beaches, shops, etc. Are you sure that potential buyers or renters of your property use the same system of measurements in their country/language as you do in yours? Very often the answer is no, they don’t.

That’s why you have to find out exactly what they need and insert the correct measurements manually as AI would not know how to do it.

Example: American “sq. f., yards and miles” must turn into “sq. m., meters and km” in Russian, otherwise you won’t be understood.

4.Cultural nuances.

It’s a huge topic, and there are books written about that (mine included), but here we will only mention that it’s really important in marketing.

What you might think is so attractive for you and people of your own culture, may be not so much or nothing at all for foreign buyers. Check out first before including some specific features of your property as a major marketing point. AI would translate what’s in the source text without taking care of cultural differences.

Example: American baseball players are famous only in America, and if you praise your location because so-and-so one of them lived in the area, it will only confuse foreign buyers (who is that, they will think, probably blaming themselves for ignorance? not a good feeling…)

5.Legal issues.

Legal problems with AI translations might come in two major types:

-If you make up your real estate contract with the AI help and include all your client’s data, keep in mind that it will be available for the whole world!

-If you put the AI-generated texts onto your website or contract, keep in mind who is legally liable anyway? You!

AI translation errors in the real estate business appear from a lack of context, cultural nuance, and industry-specific expertise, leading to potential legal liabilities, financial losses, reputational damage, and lost deals. While AI offers speed, it struggles to deliver accuracy required for legal contracts and marketing materials.

Email your accurate English to Russian real estate translator with your questions.

To your best business success,

Sincerely,