diff --git a/src/fields/GeoAddressField.php b/src/fields/GeoAddressField.php
index 9e74fb5..968aad0 100644
--- a/src/fields/GeoAddressField.php
+++ b/src/fields/GeoAddressField.php
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@
 class GeoAddressField extends Field implements PreviewableFieldInterface
 {
     /**
-     * Returns the display name of this class.
-     *
      * @return string The display name of this class.
      */
     public static function displayName(): string
@@ -31,12 +29,7 @@ public static function displayName(): string
     }
 
 	/**
-	 * @param $value
-	 * @param \craft\base\ElementInterface|NULL $element
-	 *
-	 * @return string
-	 * @throws \Twig_Error_Loader
-	 * @throws \yii\base\Exception
+	 * @inheritDoc
 	 */
     public function getInputHtml($value, ElementInterface $element = null): string
     {
@@ -62,43 +55,52 @@ public function getInputHtml($value, ElementInterface $element = null): string
     }
 
 	/**
-	 * @param $value
-	 * @param \craft\base\ElementInterface|NULL $element
-	 *
-	 * @return array|mixed
+	 * @inheritDoc
 	 */
 	public function normalizeValue($value, ElementInterface $element = NULL)
 	{
-		if (empty($value)) {
-			$model = new GeoAddressModel();
-			$value = $model->getAttributes();
-		}
-
-		if (!is_array($value)) {
-			$value = json_decode($value, true);
-		}
+        if (is_string($value)) {
+            $value = Json::decodeIfJson($value);
+        }
 
-		$value['zip'] = str_replace(' ', '', $value['zip'] ?? '');
+        if ($value instanceof GeoAddressModel) {
+            $model = $value;
+        } elseif (is_array($value)) {
+            $model = new GeoAddressModel($value);
+        } else {
+            $model = new GeoAddressModel();
+        }
 
-		return $value;
+		return $model;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * @param array $value
-	 * @param \craft\base\ElementInterface|NULL $element
-	 *
-	 * @return array
-	 */
-	public function serializeValue($value, ElementInterface $element = NULL)
-	{
-		return array_merge(
-			$value,
-			GeoAddress::getInstance()->geoAddressService->getCoordsByAddress($value)
-		);
-	}
+    /**
+     * @inheritDoc
+     */
+    public function serializeValue($value, ElementInterface $element = null)
+    {
+        /** @var GeoAddressModel $model */
+        $model = $value;
+
+        // normalize zip
+        $model->zip = trim(str_replace(' ', '', $model->zip));
+
+        $isChanged = !$element || ($element && $model->getAddress() !== $element->getFieldValue($this->handle)->getAddress());
+        if ($isChanged || (!($model->lat && $model->lng) && $model->getAddress())) {
+            $result = GeoAddress::getInstance()->geoAddressService->getCoordsByAddress($model->getAddress(), $model->country);
+
+            $model->setAttributes(array_filter($result));
+        }
+
+        if ($element) {
+            $element->setFieldValue($this->handle, $model);
+        }
+
+        return $model;
+    }
 
     /**
-     * @return string
+     * @inheritDoc
      */
     public function getContentColumnType(): string
     {
@@ -106,35 +108,36 @@ public function getContentColumnType(): string
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param string $value
-     * @param ElementInterface $element
-     * @return string
+     * @inheritDoc
      */
     public function getTableAttributeHtml($value, ElementInterface $element): string
     {
+        /** @var GeoAddressModel $model */
+        $model = $value;
+
         $label = '';
 
-        if (!empty($value['street'])) {
-            $label .= $value['street'];
+        if ($model->street) {
+            $label .= $model->street;
         }
 
-        if (!empty($value['city'])) {
-            $label .= (!empty($label) ? ', ' : '') . $value['city'];
+        if ($model->city) {
+            $label .= ($label ? ', ' : '') . $model->city;
         }
 
-        if (!empty($value['countryName'])) {
-            $label .= (!empty($label) ? ', ' : '') . $value['countryName'];
+        if ($model->countryName) {
+            $label .= ($label ? ', ' : '') . $model->countryName;
         }
 
-        if (empty($label)) {
+        if (!$label) {
             return '';
         }
 
         $html = Html::tag('span', $label);
 
-        if (!empty($value['lat']) && !empty($value['lng'])) {
+        if ($model->lat && $model->lng) {
             $html = Html::tag('a', $html, [
-                'href' => sprintf('https://maps.google.com/?q=%s,%s', $value['lat'], $value['lng']),
+                'href' => sprintf('https://maps.google.com/?q=%s,%s', $model->lat, $model->lng),
                 'target' => '_blank',
             ]);
         }
diff --git a/src/models/GeoAddressModel.php b/src/models/GeoAddressModel.php
index 5495081..17babd8 100644
--- a/src/models/GeoAddressModel.php
+++ b/src/models/GeoAddressModel.php
@@ -27,16 +27,17 @@ class GeoAddressModel extends Model
 	 */
 	public $city;
 
-	/**
-	 * @var string
-	 */
-	public $state;
-
 	/**
 	 * @var string
 	 */
 	public $zip;
 
+    /**
+     * @var string
+     * @deprecated Not in use anymore, but cant be removed as it corrupts existing models
+     */
+    public $state;
+
     /**
      * @var string
      */
@@ -72,20 +73,46 @@ class GeoAddressModel extends Model
      *
      * @return array
      */
-    public function rules()
+    public function rules(): array
     {
         return [
 			['name', 'string'],
 			['street', 'string'],
 			['city', 'string'],
-			['state', 'string'],
 			['zip', 'string'],
+			['state', 'string'],
 			['country', 'string'],
 			['countryName', 'string'],
 			['countryCode', 'string'],
-			['lat', 'float'],
-			['lng', 'float'],
+			['lat', 'number'],
+			['lng', 'number'],
 			['formattedAddress', 'string']
         ];
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function getAddress(): string
+    {
+        $address = '';
+
+        if ($this->street) {
+            $address .= ($address ? ' ' : '') . $this->street;
+        }
+
+        if ($this->city) {
+            $address .= ($address ? ' ' : '') . $this->city;
+        }
+
+        if ($this->zip) {
+            $address .= ($address ? ' ' : '') . $this->zip;
+        }
+
+        if ($this->country) {
+            $address .= ($address ? ' ' : '') . $this->country;
+        }
+
+        return $address;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/services/GeoAddressService.php b/src/services/GeoAddressService.php
index 6282b42..8aeae9f 100644
--- a/src/services/GeoAddressService.php
+++ b/src/services/GeoAddressService.php
@@ -14,21 +14,25 @@
 class GeoAddressService extends Component
 {
 	/**
-	 * @param array $value
+	 * @param string $address
+	 * @param string $country
 	 * @return array
 	 */
-    public function getCoordsByAddress(array $value)
+    public function getCoordsByAddress(string $address, string $country)
     {
-    	$address = [
-    		'lat' => null,
-			'lng' => null,
-			'formattedAddress' => null,
-			'countryName' => null,
-			'countryCode' => null,
-		];
+		$requestUrl = 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json';
+        $requestUrl .= '?address=' . rawurlencode($address);
+        $requestUrl .= '&key=' . GeoAddress::getInstance()->getSettings()->googleApiKey;
 
-		$requestUrl = 'https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?sensor=false&address=' . urlencode(json_encode($value)) . '&key=' . GeoAddress::getInstance()->getSettings()->googleApiKey;
-		$result = json_decode(file_get_contents($requestUrl));
+        $result = json_decode(file_get_contents($requestUrl));
+
+        $address = [
+            'lat' => null,
+            'lng' => null,
+            'formattedAddress' => null,
+            'countryName' => null,
+            'countryCode' => null,
+        ];
 
 		// no results
 		if ($result->status !== 'OK' || empty($result->results)) {
@@ -50,11 +54,7 @@ public function getCoordsByAddress(array $value)
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                if (!isset($value['country'])) {
-                    continue;
-                }
-
-                if ($component->long_name !== $value['country']) {
+                if ($component->long_name !== $country) {
                     continue;
                 }