The 1-Year Challenge: Learn 52 Spanish Real Estate Terms in 52 Weeks
Did you know that Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in nearly every U.S. state? That means it's likely that you've either had clients or prospects that speak the language. But even though translation apps have come far in recent years (more on that later), it's still difficult to accurately translate the specialized jargon of real estate into Spanish and other languages. According to a government report, "translations may create more confusion than clarity. For example, when targeting materials and products to Latinos, financial education materials often are translated from English to their literal equivalent in Spanish, which may be unintelligible or difficult for the reader to understand." So to help you better serve your Spanish-speaking clients and leads, we've compiled this list of 52 of the most-used real estate terms and their Spanish translations. It's drawn from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's Glossary of English-Spanish Financial Terms, a constantly updated list of hundreds of finance and real estate related terms. You can bookmark or save this article to refer to later—or if you really want to boost your Spanish language skills, read on for a challenge that will help you master real estate's most commonly needed translations. The Challenge Ready for a low pressure way to build your Spanish vocabulary? We've included 52 real estate terms in this article--one for every week of the year. You can build your vocabulary slowly by committing to learning and using one term per week. You can start this challenge now, next month, your birthday, the anniversary of your first sale, or any other date that motivates you. Here's the challenge: Learn one term per week for 52 weeks, or exactly one year. Aim to use that term at least 1-3 times in your work during that week in order for it to really sink in. This is easy if you have Spanish speaking clients--just drop it into conversation, email, or text. If you don't have any Spanish speaking clients, use that week's term to flex your online marketing skills. Write a blog post about the term, or share the term and its translation on social media with a memorable hashtag. Dive in to the list below to get started! The List AppraisalTasación, valoración de la vivienda AssessmentEvaluación, cargo, tarifa Buyer's AgentAgente del comprador Closing CostsCostos de cierre, gastos de cierre Closing dateFecha de cierre Commercial propertyPropiedad comercial CommissionComisión Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)CMA (Análisis Comparativo de Mercado) Contingency / Contingency clause of saleContingencia / Cláusula de contingencia de venta ContractContrato CostsCostos, gastos CounterofferContraoferta DeedEscritura, título de inmueble DisclosureRevelación, divulgación Down paymentPago inicial, cuota inicial Due diligenceDiligencia debida Earnest money depositDepósito de buena fe, depósito de arras EscrowDepósito en garantía, reserva, escrow, depósito para impuestos y seguros de la vivienda Estimated property valueValor estimado de la vivienda Fair Market ValueValor de mercado, precio de mercado Fiduciary DutiesDeberes fiduciarios ForeclosureEjecución hipotecaria, embargo, reposesión, reposeer For sale by owner (FSBO)Casa en venta por el propietario (FSBO, por sus siglas en inglés) Good faith estimateEstimado de Buena Fe/Estimación de Buena Fe (GFE, por sus siglas en inglés) GranteeCesionario, beneficiario GrantorOtorgante Home buyerComprador de vivienda Home EquityValor liquido, capital de su vivienda Home, houseVivienda, casa, hogar Home InspectionInspección de la vivienda HomeownerPropietario de vivienda, propietario de casa, dueño de casa Homeowner's associationAsociación de propietarios Homeowner's InsuranceSeguro de la vivienda, seguro del propietario de vivienda, aseguranza de casa Investment propertyPropiedad adquirida con fines de inversión, propiedad de Inversión LienGravamen, derecho de retención, deuda, embargo preventivo Listed for saleEn venta, para la venta Listing price, list pricePrecio anunciado, precio de lista Loan-to-value ratioRelación Préstamo - Valor (LTV, por sus siglas en inglés) MortgageHipoteca, préstamo Preapproval, preapprovedPreaprobación, preaprobado PrequalifiedPrecalificado Principal, interest, taxes, and insurancePrincipal, Interés, Impuestos y Seguro (PITI, por sus siglas en inglés) Private mortgage insuranceSeguro hipotecario privado (pmi, por sus siglas en inglés) Real estate agentAgente de bienes raíces Real estate brokerCorredor inmobiliario REALTORAgente inmobiliario Seller's AgentAgente inmobiliario del vendedor, agente de bienes raíces que representa al vendedor Short SaleVenta en corto, venta corta TitleTítulo (de la propiedad) WarrantyGarantía Zip codeCódigo posta Zone / zoningZona, Zonificación Apps that can help If language learning isn't quite your thing, lean on technology to provide the help you need. Google Translate is perhaps the most advanced, free translation app available today, and it takes advantage of several of your smartphone's features to do stuff like: Translate text in the "real world" -- e.g., from street signs, newspapers, menus, etc. -- into the language of your choice by pointing your phone's camera at the object to be translated. Translate conversations in real time. Speak into your phone to translate your words into the language of your choice, and your conversation partner can do the same. Google Translate acts as an interpreter that produces audio translations of both sides of the conversation. Translate text from any app. No matter what app is open, Google Translate can step in and translate text for you. Simply copy the text to activate translate mode. And more. Google Translate is available for both Android and iOS devices. For more on translation technology, see: 4 Apps that Let Real Estate Professionals Smash Language Barriers Has Technology Brought Real-Time Translation to Real Estate?

10 Things You Probably Didn't Know Google Could Do for You
It's not often that a company provides a service so popular that it becomes a verb, but you probably have heard the phrase "Just Google it" many times. Doing a search using Google has become part of most people's daily routine: there are 4.4 billion worldwide searches every single day. But did you know that Google is much more than just a search engine? It is also a highly complex math calculator, a real-time currency converter, a sophisticated multi-lingual translator, a digital dictation machine and more. In fact, Google has so many hidden talents built into its search bar, these five may be only scratching the surface of what Google search can do for you. Here are five things that you can do with Google search shortcuts that you may not know about, but may save you an enormous amount of time.

Golden Opportunity: Translate Your Listings
With a struggling real estate market, every REALTOR® is looking for new business opportunities, ways to keep your business booming in tough times. International buyers are a golden opportunity. The key is knowing how to reach them. You may want to consider foreign language translations of your listings. Extending an "Olive Branch" We'll get to the SEO benefits of listing translation later. There's a less quantifiable, but perhaps even more important, benefit: the "good will" you demonstrate by making an effort to speak an international buyer's language. By translating your listings, you're demonstrating respect. International buyers are a growth industry. More and more homebuyers are going to speak a foreign language. In addition, the spending power in those groups is growing exponentially; they're upwardly mobile. International buyers and non-English speakers are often bilingual, but research proves that they want to do business with people who respect their language and their culture.

Product Review: Immobel’s Multi-Language Website IDX and REAL-Buzz
Although we set out to write a review of Immobel’s Multi-Language IDX Translation, a look at REAL-Buzz was inevitable. Thus, our review covers both. Many REALTORS® who invest in IDX translation to market to global buyers will also choose to participate in the (free) REAL-Buzz.com portal.