A lot of investment savvy for a small price: these 1-2-3 templates help you evaluate real estate, franchises, and other investments. (Software Review) (Lotus Development Corp's 1-2-3 spreadsheet software) (evaluation)

A Lot of Investment Savvy for a Small Price

You have a craving to purchase a home, a car, a fast-food franchise, or the like. But in a fit of common sense, you want to be sure you are making a good business decision before your impulse gets the best of you.

Investimator can help. This software package is a collection of eleven 1-2-3 templates designed to analyze business and real estate acquisitions. The template set is an excellent value, but the eight real estate templates have a decided edge on the three business-acquisition templates in both completeness and functionality.

A Standard Format

All the templates share a similar interface. Each model asks for certain details and assumptions, such as purchase price, mortgage rate, loan term, and expected rate of return. These input cells are highlighted on monochrome screens and appear in color on color monitors. The format is easy to understand and use, and for the most part, …