Argus: What actually gets used?
I have very minimal knowledge of Argus so far, but it seems like a huge package that has a few features that provide most of the value. Are there any modules/features that everyone uses? Or that no one uses? I'm trying to figure out what to focus on.
This won't be a direct answer, but a couple Argus thoughts:
1) Students and people who have not had exposure to Argus grossly overestimate it's complexity and difficulty. It is pretty simple to use and can basically be taught in a single day and perfected with repetition. Obviously you will need to ask your peers questions and clarify/get tips here and there but the basic process is straightforward.
2) No entry-level role at an institutional shop will expect you to have mastered Argus. It is prohibitively expensive for a student to learn and few schools teach at (at least mine certainly didn't).
3) It is really just an organizational tool/aggregator. As the number of tenants at your asset increases, it can become prohibitively difficult and inefficient to plug in leases with different expense structures, options, rent bumps, etc in excel. That's when Argus shines, you plug each lease in and it normalizes everything on the back end. IMO that's the most (and really only) use for the software.
4) Lastly, in my experience (which I realize is that of just one guy), no one really models in Argus. They use it as i mentioned above to aggregate lease data, expense recoveries, and market assumptions and spit out a nice clean cash flow, and then drop that into an excel model to model for returns. Anecdotally the REPE firm I'm with currently does not use Argus at all.
Re-reading the initial post, I hope the first two points didn't come off as condescending as it sounds like you're trying to familiarize yourself with it as a professional from an adjacent field vs a student. A more direct answer would be, if we are talking Argus Enterprise, the most useful "feature" is what I described in point 3. No experience with the other products Argus offers but Enterprise is vastly the most common.
I didn't take it as condescending at all. You are correct that I'm a professional coming from an adjacent field - I build custom software and I have a finance background, but I'm completely new to CRE.
Your post is very helpful. I'm evaluating potential solutions for a client and I was trying to figure out what, if any, value Argus would bring to the table. I don't think they actually need something totally custom based on their requirements. If you don't mind me asking, does your REPE firm use anything like Juniper Square or IMS for investor management?
We use Juniper Square - totally worth it on the LP side, they love it.
Does your client focus on retail/industrial/office, or primarily just multifamily? If they any sort of work with retail/industrial/office then they 100% need to have Argus.
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