I was all proud that I googled my way through a little problem needing a solution today. I was proud, that is, until I realized that Nick Bostic wrote about this back in August on Agent Genius, a blog I am (supposed to be) a contributor on. Oh, well. I am still excited about “my” find.
My conundrum was this. Steve and I have long had a map of all of the homes we have sold in Scripps Ranch. It is a handy little visual when we find the need to convince someone we aren’t just on our way back from the licensing exam. We have “long had” this map since the summer of 2006, so it needed updating.
Now, back in 2006, in the days before running water and the wheel, we created this collateral piece by literally drawing little dots on a map and then sending it to our print/design firm along with a check for $40 gazillion to get it produced. I initally figured I could use Google Maps to recreate and update the map but, sparing you the details, it wasn’t possible, at least not that I could see, to go directly from spreadsheet with addresses (and not geoocodes) to magic map.
It turns out that Map a List allowed me to do just that. Voila!
Now, there is no stopping me! I spent the afternoon just looking for things to map. I was going to map Steve, but he keeps moving around. So, instead, here is a map plotting the detached homes sold in Scripps Ranch during the third quarter of this year.
And now that I have finally read Nick’s post, here is a map (stealing an idea from him) showing the locations of current Scripps Ranch listings where the agent is fessing up that the sale is subject to lender approval (short or bank-owned).
The sad thing is that I realized after the fact that I could have accomplished the same thing using Zeemaps, which I was playing around with here in August of last year. I just forgot. Next up, I think I’ll map my brain.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kris Berg is Co-Owner and Designated Broker of San Diego Castles Realty. If not-so static web sites are your thing, go here at once where you will find loads of real estate information including homes for sale, market trends, floor plans and more. Kris's hobbies include fencing and spot welding. She likes kittens. 
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Another great tool….thanks for sharing Kris. I keep having the image of you and Jay T. in a lab with several dozen working lap tops creating things that most of us can only dream of.
One other thought…..”NAR Wisdom”…..isn’t that an oxymoron?
Greg – Again, you give me far too much credit. I just a master of Googling, and I have perfected the art of stealing ideas. As for the NAR crack, NAR is good.
You’re behind on writing, I’m behind on reading.
Those are fun maps. Look, I can see my house. Oh, here, let me move that green dot off of it so I can see it better.
That seems odd. Can you lock the map so your viewers can’t accidentally bump the dots aside? I realize a reload/refresh fixes it, but it is still funny that I can just move the dots around.
That is hysterical, Jim! I hadn’t realized it! I am glad refresh fixes it. Otherwise, some evil-doer could really mess with our legacy if they wanted (and I suspect they “want”).
Kris- I just had to come by your blog and comment: I love following your articles on Inman News. I dare say you are my favorite contributor. Anywho: I’ve been manually inputting addresses and such to create google maps for a while now, never realizing there was a free tool to help me create a better map in less time. Just when I think I’m on the cutting edge, I realize I’m nothing more than a dull blade. Thanks for the tip, I’ll use it to file off some of the rust:-)
Thanks, Matt. I love the fact that I can just import a spreadsheet. Zeemaps also allows you to import data, but it’s a little fussier. If you can live with the extra aggravation though, they give you the bonus of having an info bubble pop up when you click on the marker. You can probably do this with Map a List too — I just haven’t gotten around to thinking that hard yet.