Argus Hassle

[Kali the Boston Terrier]

My firm is looking to add four new Argus DCF licenses, possibly the narrative writing software and if they offer it some type of comparable/transaction database. I've left three messages about exactly what I just said...not a call back, my calls began three weeks ago.

So I'm at an impasse, is there any competing products besides Argus DCF? If not, does anyone have a contact number inside the Argus HQ to speak with someone about buying their software. Of course, if their sales department is this bad...how bad is tech support?

 

[CGgonnabee]

Not a good sign.

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

Kali, I'd suggest you take a look at Armstrong's Narrative1 software and DCF module.

I've never worked with Argus but am told that Narrative1 has a shorter learning curve by those who have owned both. It is also less expensive.

OTOH, some REIT and insurance companies want to see an Argus DCF. If those are your clients, good luck. You'll need to take the plunge.

Narrative1 is built on the back of Excel, so you probably are already way ahead of the curve.

 

[Kali the Boston Terrier]

Kali, I'd suggest you take a look at Armstrong's Narrative1 software and DCF module.

I've never worked with Argus but am told that Narrative1 has a shorter learning curve by those who have owned both. It is also less expensive.

OTOH, some REIT and insurance companies want to see an Argus DCF. If those are your clients, good luck. You'll need to take the plunge.

Narrative1 is built on the back of Excel, so you probably are already way ahead of the curve.

My clients are REITs, insurance companies, and asset managers. Argus or a comparable (if it exists) is the only game in town. I have great DCF models on my excel, but they want Argus.

 

[Lost Cause]

I love Argus, the software. On the other hand the company behind Argus is a royal pain in the rear end. The attitude and the money-grubbing are never ending.

There used to be several competitors but all the ones I know (primarily ProJect and Office/2 by Pascal) seem to have fallen by the wayside. ProJect's learning curve was entirely too steep and Pascal didn't market Office/2 aggressively enough. Office/2 was, however, quite real estate friendly whereas ProJect was for geeks only.

 

[power]

Just called Argus and got a human with one press of the button.

And for the original poster, the reason for my call was because my firm provides me with a copy of Narrative 1. Or maybe it is some bootleg copy from the Polynesian Islands. Either way, I'd rather do a multi-tenant shopping center DCF on my blue keys. Bad, bad, bad experience with this software.

I will probably end up springing for the $4,200 Argus out of my own pocket. Then I'm going to the bar.

 

[PL1957]

There used to be several competitors but all the ones I know (primarily ProJect and Office/2 by Pascal) seem to have fallen by the wayside. ProJect's learning curve was entirely too steep and Pascal didn't market Office/2 aggressively enough. Office/2 was, however, quite real estate friendly whereas ProJect was for geeks only.

I preferred ProJect - I could really make it sing. Nothing like getting tenant recoveries in regional mall TO THE PENNY!!! ProJect for Windows really sucked and brought the whole house down.

I've found ARGUS to be too simplistic with not enough leeway in the way you can model things.

As to the OP, give Bruce Kellogg a call. He's still pretty high up with Altus (the company that bought ARGUS). He's in the AI directory.

 

[GCJim]

Unfortunately, when one is effectively the only game in town, occasionally one tends to act like they have a monopoly.
(Damn, I hate to be negative, but I have seen it so many times in the last couple of years, it sickens me...)

 

[Kali the Boston Terrier]

Well it seems like uniformly we could all do without the business of Argus, but have no other choice in the use of Argus.

 

[CBBoston]

When our 10 or 15 year old key for argus got vaporized in a hard disk crash we were forced to get a new version. We'd stopped paying their annual mantainence fee after a couple years. After whining, crying and pleading about the high cost for a small shop, they dropped the price to the mid-$3,000s.

Argus is a challenge to learn but once that's done its a very powerful analytic tool for larger multi-tenant properties.