A buyer scrolling past your listing reads the price in a second. Whether they stop depends on the words around it. For many families in Canada and the US, those words land faster in the language they speak at home.
In Canada's 2021 Census, Mandarin and Punjabi were the most common languages spoken at home other than English and French. In the US, it's Spanish. In many neighbourhoods, a listing post in the right second language reaches people your English post scrolls straight past.
This guide covers what to translate, what to keep in English, the rules to respect, and the mistakes that make a translated ad look careless.
Why market a listing in a second language
- It's read, not skimmed. People slow down for their own language. A headline in Punjabi or Chinese stands out in a feed full of English posts.
- It reaches the whole family. Parents and grandparents often help decide, or help pay. A flyer they can read on their own makes your open house a family visit.
- It shows you can serve them. If you speak the language, a post in it tells people you'll explain the offer, the inspection and the closing in words they're comfortable with.
- Sellers notice. Telling a seller you'll market their home in English and Punjabi, or English and Chinese, is a real point in a listing presentation.
What to translate, and what to keep exactly as it is
Translate the marketing: the headline, the description, the feature bullets, the open-house details, the social captions and the words on your posts and flyer.
Keep these exactly as they are, in every language:
- The price, in ordinary digits. $1,280,000, not a spelled-out amount or a local way of writing millions. Buyers compare prices across listings, and a converted number invites mistakes.
- The address, your name, your phone number and your brokerage's name. Names don't get translated. Your brokerage's name must appear on every ad, in every language.
- Your licence and corporation wording, such as "Personal Real Estate Corporation", where your regulator requires it.
- The MLS® listing itself. Use your English (or your board's language) on the MLS®. Translated versions are extra marketing, not a replacement.
Pick the right version of the language
Some languages come in more than one written form. Choosing the wrong one looks like a mistake to the people you're trying to reach.
- Chinese: Simplified characters for most Mandarin readers from mainland China. Traditional characters for many Cantonese-speaking families from Hong Kong, and many long-time Chinese-Canadian families. The words differ too: a bedroom is 卧室 in Simplified but 睡房 in Hong Kong real-estate ads, and square feet is 平方英尺 versus 平方呎.
- Punjabi: Gurmukhi script for most Punjabi readers in Canada.
- Persian, Arabic and Urdu: all three are written right to left. The text should line up on the right, while prices, phone numbers and addresses still read left to right inside the line.
- French: in Canada, use Canadian French words and number style (1 280 000 $ in a sentence), not France's.
- Spanish: neutral Latin American Spanish works across most of Canada and the US.
If you don't speak the language yourself, ask the people who'll read it which version they use.
The rules still apply in every language
Translating an ad doesn't change the rules it has to follow. A few to keep in mind:
- Fair housing and human rights. The rules are about what you say, not which language you say it in. Describe the home, not the buyer. Never write that a home is perfect for, or only for, a particular community, religion or family type, in any language. Make the listing available to everyone, in English too.
- Your brokerage name and licence wording go on every version, the same as in English. Read our guide to ad rules agents often miss.
- Accuracy. A translation that turns "updated" into "fully renovated" is a misrepresentation, even if nobody meant it. You're responsible for every word you publish.
- Altered photos keep their disclosure label in every language. A staged photo is still staged in Chinese.
- Email consent. CASL in Canada and CAN-SPAM in the US apply to your emails in any language. See the "Just listed" email that gets opened.
- Quebec. The Charter of the French language requires commercial advertising in Quebec to be in French. Another language can be added, but check the rules with your agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your board's, brokerage's and regulator's rules.
Five translation mistakes that cost you trust
- Word-for-word machine translation. "Den" or "bonus room" translated literally can mean nothing in another language. Real-estate words need real-estate translations.
- Mixing scripts. Simplified and Traditional characters in the same post, or Persian digits in one line and ordinary digits in the next, look careless.
- Translating names. Street names, building names and your brokerage stay as they are.
- Numbers in the wrong order. In right-to-left text, a phone number can display back to front if the layout isn't handled. Check the post on a phone before you publish.
- No one to answer. If your post is in Korean, someone needs to be able to reply in Korean, or at least say who will.
A simple way to start
You don't need every language. Pick the one most of your area's buyers read, and run English plus that one for your next listing:
- Write and check your English copy first.
- Translate it, then have someone who reads the language check the headline, the room names and the call to action.
- Make the posts, the flyer and a reel in both languages, with the same photos and price.
- Post both, and answer messages in the language they arrive in.
- Keep the words that worked. Next time, start from them.
For more post ideas once you're set up, see 30 social media post ideas for every listing.
How Trulisted handles languages
Trulisted makes your listing marketing in English plus one more language, or in that language only: Punjabi, Spanish, French, Tagalog, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese (with Hong Kong and Canadian real-estate words), Korean, Persian, Arabic and Urdu (all right to left), Vietnamese, Russian and Hindi.
- Your English copy is written and checked first, for the MLS®. The translation is made from it.
- The copy, captions, social images, flyer and an optional reel are made in the second language. Prices, addresses, names and your brokerage stay exactly as they are.
- Add your own preferred words ("den = estudio"), fix any word on the Results tab, and remake the posts and flyer. Translating doesn't use credits.
- Spot a wrong word on an image? Press "Report a wrong word" and it's fixed for everyone.
Every translation is made by AI, so you agree to check every word before you publish. See marketing in 14 languages, or how to keep your open house sign-in bilingual too.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to advertise a listing in another language?
Yes, in general. The rules focus on what an ad says, not its language: describe the home, never the kind of buyer you want, and include your brokerage name. In Quebec, commercial advertising must be in French, with other languages allowed alongside it.
Should I translate my MLS® listing?
Keep the MLS® listing in English, or your board's language. Use translated copy for your own marketing: social posts, flyers, emails and your website.
Should I use Simplified or Traditional Chinese?
Simplified for most Mandarin readers from mainland China, and Traditional for many Cantonese-speaking families from Hong Kong and many long-time Chinese-Canadian families. The real-estate words differ too, so choose one and stay with it.
Can AI translate a listing description well?
It can give you a good draft fast, especially when it starts from checked English and uses real-estate words. But you're responsible for the result, so have someone who reads the language check the headline, room names and anything about the home's features.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your board's, brokerage's and regulator's rules for your market.