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You carried me & a spreadsheet for Christmas

By 38 Comments

This will be my last post of the year and I wanted to say thank you for all of your support. I’m so grateful for the conversations and all the business of course, but there’s so much more. 

This year was not easy as I spent six nights in the hospital and took three months off work to heal from a really bad ulcerative colitis flare. I’m thankfully doing very well now and I’m happy. But I couldn’t have done this alone.

Thank you for the kind words, advice, flowers, meals, cards, prayer, and all the ways you showed support. I’m especially grateful to those who donated to the GoFundMe because it sustained my family and helped us pay off medical bills. 

It might sound cheesy, but you carried me this year. And I will never forget that.

Merry Christmas. May you know profound joy and a deep-seated peace regardless of your circumstances or the craziness of 2020.

Much love,

Ryan Lundquist

——————- now a spreadsheet if that’s your thing ——————-

A SPREADSHEET FOR CHRISTMAS?

It’s not the new PlayStation, a leg lamp, or a Bob Ross chia pet, but it’s pretty cool even if it sounds lame. This spreadsheet will help you make quick neighborhood graphs and it can work anywhere as long as you can export data from your MLS.

What does it do? This spreadsheet makes ten or so visuals as I shared about last week. This is a tool to quickly understand a few neighborhood dynamics. This isn’t a template to find out exactly what prices are doing. It’s more about the relationship things like bedroom count or lot size has with price.

STEPS TO USE THE TEMPLATE:

1) Download the spreadsheet here.

2) Decide what data you want to show. It’s up to you.

3) Create a custom export in MLS (see how to video).

4) Paste data from MLS into the template (see how to video).

5) Share graphs on social media, newsletters, etc…

IMPORTANT NOTE: Metrolist updated all of their terminology since I made the video, so when you make the template for the spreadsheet as I show you in the video you’re going to have to figure out what the new terms are. For instance, instead of “Selling Price” it’s now “Buyer Price.” This template should work just as I show in the video, but you must tell MLS to export the correct categories.

HOW TO VIDEO:

I talk for ten minutes or so about how to use this template. If you have questions, let me know. Please call your MLS if you cannot figure out how to export though because that’s not something I can help you with. Watch below (or here).

NOTE ON DATA: It’s important to think about the data you use. It could be a neighborhood, zip code, or MLS area. You might use all neighborhood sales or maybe just a sliver such as 1400-1700 sq ft homes. I suggest showing maybe the past 90 days or 180 days of sales so we capture a recent trend (or maybe it’s useful to see one year of sales?). Remember, if there is too much data it’s going to look like chaos. In short, experiment and figure out what works.

FEEDBACK: I have lots of graph tutorials here, but I’ve never made a template like this before for the public, so let me know which visuals you like best and/or what might work better in the future. I’m open to doing more of these if there is interest and it’s useful. Just remember this template isn’t meant to do everything or dissect prices in depth, so please see it in context. Thanks.

I hope this is helpful. Thanks for being here.

If you liked this post, subscribe by email (or RSS). Thanks for being here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Thanks Gary. I’m curious to see if anyone gets any value out of it. For me I just find it interesting stuff. Nothing world-changing. But there are some nuggets in there I appreciate seeing. Merry Christmas my friend.

      Reply

  2. Thank you for all the gifts that you bestow upon your fellow real estate professionals. I am so happy that you are back up and at em. 2020 has had its challenges for you, but you prevailed, and we all benefit from that. Merry Christmas bro

    Reply

    • Thanks Mark. I appreciate it and I’ll never forget the class you taught and donated proceeds to me. Very humbling man. When this pandemic is over we definitely need to get together in SoCal for a drink or sailing. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

      Reply

  4. Ryan, thank you for your spreadsheet gift ?. Will spend some playing with it. Good news it doesn’t require any batteries. You take good care of yourself and my best wishes to you and your family. All my best Ryan.

    Reply

  5. Ryan, You’re creative as hell! Those templates open up a lot of possibilities. Great that you’re feeling better. Sounds like you really got beat up there for a while. I’m very happy you’re back and able to create amazing stuff.

    Reply

    • Thanks John. That’s so nice of you to say. I think all of us are looking forward to closing the year out. I’m honestly still profoundly optimistic and in good spirits. I’m just okay with not getting that sick again either. 🙂

      Merry Christmas to you and your family.

      Reply

  6. Thank you Ryan for this spreadsheet and for all the interesting and insightful posts this past year. Your comments on real estate trends and the appraisal process have given me a broader view of my industry as a whole and for that, I thank you for helping me be a better agent for my clients.
    Wishing you and your family a healthy and joyful holiday season and a brighter 2021.

    Reply

  7. Thanks Ryan for your Spreadsheet Christmas present! You are an Exemplary Appraiser with a heart! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Looking forward to 2021, so much promise!

    Pia

    Reply

  8. Ryan, THANK YOU so much, my friend! You’ve always been such a tremendous Giver, aware of other’s challenges. Extremely grateful to call you our friend and Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family! Bill & Lisa Cobb

    Reply

  9. Thanks Ryan! You’re the tops in your game and much appreciated. You are so generous with your time and expertise. Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2021 to you and your family!

    Reply

  10. Merry Christmas Ryan! I am so glad that you are doing well. It definitely has been a year none of us will forget. Thank you for always providing such great content! I’m looking forward to working with the graphs! Thank you!

    Reply

  11. Thank you Ryan for the gift of this template. As someone who spends way too much time trying to figure out marketing and technology tools, your tutorial is a priceless!

    Reply

    • You are so welcome. Keep me posted if you end up having any questions too. If you end up making a cool visual or two I’d love to see what you do. Someone just posted in her Instagram story a video of her using the template and it made my day. 🙂

      Blessings to you Karen.

      Reply

  12. You carry us all the time – it was time we gave back to you! Have a great holiday and here’s to a HEALTHY 2021!

    Reply

  13. Merry Christmas Ryan,
    Blessings to you and you family and thank you for all your incredible, knowledge, charts, data and the work that goes into your blog to educate so many of us!
    Andrea White

    Reply

  14. Thank you Ryan, May the Lord Bless you and your family and continue to increase your health and wealth this coming year.

    Reply

  15. Merry Christmas Ryan! Thank you for all your bring to the table and your willingness to share and educate! So glad you are feeling better. Here’s to what lies ahead! Cheers!

    Reply

  16. Yours is one of two blogs I read, the other being David Lebovitz, ex chef of Chez Panisse buy now residing in Paris.
    So Real Estate Facts, graphs and important market updates and Good Food!
    Thank you and here’s to a Safe and Healthy New Year!
    Meg Heede

    Reply

  17. Wow – I was late in reading this post so this is like finding an unopened Christmas present. Will definitely be using your templates this coming year. What I really should be doing though is a weekly FB live interpreting your blog posts for those not part of the real estate community. I love the info density but your posts can be overwhelming for those who aren’t data geeks!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much Gordon. Please keep me posted if you have any questions. I hear you on overwhelming. Once a month I have a huge post that is absurdly long on purpose, but otherwise it’s been a year where I’ve really focused heavily on data. I think the pandemic inspired lots of creativity and frankly a bigger need to really understand and explain the market. It’s honestly been a little weird for me as I figure out how to navigate the type of content that I want to share and what is most meaningful to readers. I’d love to see you take one visual though and explain it. My goal is to be a shotgun with a wide blast, but I hope others will be more like a sniper with a more narrow focus (okay, I’m watching way too many action movies).

      Thanks Gordon.

      Reply

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