B (3:03)

Sebastian, when you, when you first moved to the States, where, where, where did you land? What part of the country were you in?

C (3:08)

Yes, I arrived to Boston, Massachusetts. Actually. I arrived to a place, a town here called Worcester is about an hour from Boston. And this is exactly what I say. I arrived there, I didn't know anyone, so I thought I was close to Boston. I got a job in Boston. I was working at nights, so the transportation was extremely difficult. I didn't consider that. So I was working in Boston, living so far away, I had to take the train every night. I had a situation there where, again, I didn't understand the maps and how the train works. Everything was completely new. So unfortunately, I had to stay one night on the T station because I missed the train and I didn't know how to ask for help or I didn't know how to afford an Uber, $50 because it was too far away. So things like that is what I go back and say again, I say I was just focused on, like, how to stand on my own feet, how to understand where I'm living, where things are located. After that, I move closer to my job. I started living in the same place, in the same area, so things got a little bit better. But yeah, that's Boston, Massachusetts.

B (4:18)

And Sebastian, you know, crazy story, you know, that you have to sleep in the train station. But I guess, what was that, what was that turning point for you that took you out of, I'm just trying to survive and learn the language into actually thinking about building wealth.

C (4:34)

The goal, the priority was always to get a better life, right? To improve the life. When I was able to jump into the bank again and enroll into my banking career and be able to speak a little bit better, I realized, and I start paying attention again to the money. So I was able to build a little bit of comfort in terms of the income. And that gave me time, right? So it's only wait three times to get value in life, time, money, or knowledge, right? So I built the time. So I started learning about real estate. I started understanding more how the money works, the cycle of the money going through books and podcasts, you guys, every single day. And that, that gave me the, you know, the vision of, like, okay, this is not it. Like, it's a better path. It's a better way to do things. So that turning point was probably when I mentioned maxed out my credit cards, lost my apartment, I was sleeping in my car, I had nowhere to go and I had no family. I can't just go and call my cousin, my aunt, hey, can I crush on your couch? Like, no, I can't. So that moment I was like, okay, I need to do something. At the same time, I found my life partner. And when I got engaged, things got serious and I'm like, okay, I can't just provide, I can't just live like this. I need something that is gonna give me a better future, right? Whatever it takes, I'll do it. So that's when I after struggling and understanding stocks and other type of investments, I used to lend money. But real estate was the best way that I found that was real, that was something tangible, something that you can play a long term game, not just something that you get in and out quickly. So that's when I understood and I decided to go all in into real estate.

A (6:30)

Now that you've realized that and you've come to that point in your life, what were some of the first action steps you took when you decided real estate was going to be your wealth generator?

C (6:40)

Many. One of the first ones was to delete them. Victim mentality and changing the typical, I'm coming back from work, I'm tired, I just need to go to my couch and watch Netflix. Like no, that needed to change. I could also watch Netflix but an hour prior that I could just analyze two deals. So one of my rule number one since long time ago was to analyze two deals. Every day I will go through mls. I go and pull two addresses, see the market and start understanding. I didn't know anything. But little by little I was like, oh, I kind of know what a house will go from from that area. I kind of know what the taxes look like. So those type of like small habits that change in my day by day, oh, I'm tired, I just gonna go home and sleep. No, you need to put 110%. Now the schedule is way different. So now I can relax a little bit better. But back then it's all in. I don't know. Another really good habit is like reading. I was never the person who used to read and take a book and like wasn't my, my biggest, I don't know, skill. But after reading a few books and paying attention to the podcasting stuff, I'm like, wow, this book is like the, the recipe, like just follow it like follow exactly what he's saying and it's gonna work. It's gonna happen. So I believe those two habits were big, big in my, I don't know, back in the time when I was struggling.

D (8:14)

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A (9:54)

Today's show is sponsored by Baseline. They say real estate investing is passive, but let's get real. Chasing rents, drowning in receipts, and getting buried in spreadsheets feels anything but passive. If you're tired of losing valuable hours on financial busy work, I've found a solution that will transform your business. It's baseline, a trusted BP Pro partner. Baselane is an all in one platform that can help you automate the day to day. It automates your rent collection and uses AI powered bookkeeping to auto tag transactions for instant cash flow visibility and reporting. Plus they have tons of other features like recurring payments, multi user access and free wires. To save you more time and money, spend less managing your money and more time growing your portfolio. Ready to automate the busy work and get back to investing? Baselane is giving Biggerpockets listeners an exclusive $100 bonus when you sign up@baselane.com BiggerPockets okay, welcome back. So you're hustling, you've got the mindset and then comes the big leap. Your very first property. So this was in Philadelphia. Walk us through that first Philly deal step by step. Just the purchase price, the rental cost, ARV and what the numbers look like today.

C (11:11)

Just before going into the deal. I will say that that was the struggle. Number one, while I was analyzing deals, I realized that I couldn't afford a house in my market. So that was my first big wall that I had to figure it out how to, how to overcome. Because of that I started saying, okay, this is not it. I need to find a way to invest somewhere else. And the good thing about the state is that you guys are, you guys can do things over the phone. You don't need to go there. It's really good in that sense. So I found the book, you know, long, long term, long distance investment. And I just follow what the book said I found, I pick a few markets, found Philadelphia as the one that is as good and my, in my research and then I start putting offers there. So it was another, I will say another level because you start analyzing against something out of state. So now you, your picture, your satellite view is even bigger because it's not only just the house and you can fix everything because you're right there. You need to trust the agent, you need to find the contractor. So things get more complicated. But the deal how it looks like we bought, we land on our first property on MLS. $64,000. The property was just full of trash and smell. But here's one of my rookies, I don't know advice smelled like money. The house was full of trash, full of bad stuff. It smells bad. I know. But once we clean it up, it was in great condition. We put only $7,000. We rent it out right away. That was through the pandemic time. So we got an excellent rate, like 3%, something like that. The rent was around $950, and the mortgage back then was around $450. Today, the property ARV is probably around a 180. The rent is $1,200. And we still hold the note. And I'm going to hold that note forever. I will never refinance that note. That was my first deal.

A (13:19)

You're renting this property today for $1,200, and your mortgage payment is 4, 550. And I'm assuming that's escrow too, so insurance and property taxes.

C (13:30)

Correct.

A (13:30)

Wow, that's incredible. And you only put $7,000 into the rehab of this property too?

C (13:36)

Yes.

A (13:37)

Well, that's a great first deal. Did that get you addicted then to this market?

C (13:42)

Absolutely, absolutely. But also really big, big learning lessons from that deal. Like, it's my, my. The first door that we bought, and through this door we learned how to evict someone, how to help someone. One of the tenants passed away and we had to deal with. I didn't know I didn't have any of those situations, you know, even close to my worst case scenario. So again, it's not only this is what I always say, like, perfection, speed beat perfection. I didn't know. But if I wouldn't bought it back then, I probably wouldn't have it today and I wouldn't experience all of that. I wouldn't learn and earn all this, I don't know, knowledge. So I think that's the most important is like, take action and do it right. As long the numbers look well, it look good and you're, you're safe, just. Just take it and learn. You're gonna learn a lot.

B (14:36)

On that note, Sebastian, and you're kind of hitting on my next question. There are a lot of rookies who are listening right now who have listened to the podcast, who've watched the YouTube videos. They read the same book that you read, they've analyzed deals, but they're still stuck in analysis paralysis. What do you think you did that allowed you to go from not only not only investing in your backyard, but investing long distance, but being able to find the deal and actually pull the trigger on something. What were you saying to yourself to say? I've actually got to move forward. I got to stop just listening and watching.

C (15:12)

One of the first things that I will say is like, everyone has to be able to measure their risk. I am a risk taker person, or at least I am able to manage some type of pressure and risk other People can't. That's completely okay. But when you're in the analysis, paralysis, you probably know, ready to pull the trigger because you're scared of something. So measure the risk, run the numbers, see what's the worst case scenario. And think about that. Never be super positive, oh, this is going to rent three times higher because my renovations are going to be better. Like probably not be conservative. Be positive, but be conservative. So if anything goes south, you still, okay, you're still able to learn and move on. The most important thing is like, make sure that this is when you say, hey, are you going to be a real estate investor? You want to buy a property? Feel that? Hell yes. Like that fire in you? Yes, I want to do it. If you do it like that, no matter what challenge you face, you're gonna be able to fix it or work around. But if you, since the beginning, you feel like, yeah, maybe, no, maybe this is not my right. You clearly something, there is some type of risk that you don't want to take, don't take it. Maybe you can be, I don't know, a silent partner in a syndication. You can be, you can, you can always find a strategy or a way to invest. But if you feel stuck there and you can't pull the trigger, maybe step back and see what other options you have. Where do you feel more comfortable taking some of the risk and work around? Maybe down the road you will be more willing to take risk going forward.

A (16:53)

Did you have to change your buy box or any of your criteria? Because maybe you would find that golden deal and that wasn't working anymore. Explain those next steps to explain your buy box, your strategy going forward after that first deal.

C (17:09)

Yes, that's a great question. Something really, really important that I will. If anyone can take something out of this conversation is understand your market. You need to know where you're buying. Even if it's far away, you can see it. So you need to understand where you buy through these five years, six years of investment investing. At the beginning, we were just forcing to happen, like we were all in. We were like, buy any property. We don't know, we don't care. We just, we just want to do it. But I realized that that's not the right approach. You need to understand what you're buying. You need to run your numbers. So if you focus on your buy box. Now, today I only buy raw single family house under 1300 square feet, three bed, one bath with a basement in a specific zip code, 119144. Those that to. To Reach that point, it took me five years because before I was just, okay, it's a deal here, but maybe here and also here, and my contractor was going all around. All of that counts. So through, through these years of investment investing, you, you will find better markets, better if you keep repeating the same. So stay on the same single family house for quite a while. Don't go single family house, 20 unit building, commercial building. I probably wouldn't recommend that some other people do it and it worked for them. That's amazing. But if, if you want to do it, you know, a little more conservative, understand first where you're buying. Building the buy box. That's my number one priority.

B (18:49)

And Sebastian, I appreciate you saying that it took you five years to land on the very specific buy box that you have right now, because I, I do think that your buy box will change and adjust and get tighter as you do more deals. And for all of the rookies that are listening, you don't necessarily need to start with a buy box that's as specific as what Sebastian has right now where, you know, he said ro house, single family, three bedrooms, one bath, basement. This very specific zip code. If you can, great. But just know that you, you can build that specificity as you start to do more deals. And Sebastian, I'm assuming that the reason that you have such a tight buy box is because you spent enough time looking at other deals and you found what actually works in your specific market. So I think that's the lesson for the rookies that are listening is the more you do, the easier it becomes to identify what your buy box should be.

A (19:41)

If you guys need help creating your buy box too, we actually have a worksheet for you with just a huge list of all the things you should think about, like, do you want a pool or not? How many bedrooms is your range? What age of house do you want? All of these things to kind of give you an idea of what to think about when you're building out your buy box. And you can go to biggerpockets.com rookie resource and you can find it in there, the buy box template.

B (20:07)

So, Sebastian, buy box is one of the things that maybe was a not necessarily mistake, but something that's evolved for you. But I guess, were there any other mistakes from that first deal that have changed the way that you've invested since then?

C (20:20)

Yes. The other one is not be prepared for what it comes. So I was only focused on like, okay, I want to close in a property. I want to make sure that we close and Once we close, what didn't have the contractors line up on time. I didn't. So it took me a lot of time working through the property. Right. So buying the materials, we had to hire two different general contractors and things started going like south. And all of that cost me money. Holding cost. Every month I have to pay for that mortgage, I have to pay for that property. So the ability to understand, to see or have a vision of what you're gonna do, but have a specific plan and a step by step is really important. Okay, building SOPs, we closed today. We just closed in a property last Wednesday, we closed on Wednesday. By Thursday we need to get a new locks. It's sop. No. Next week? No, no, but the next day. The first time we didn't do that. So contractor calls it like, oh, I'm sorry, someone came to the house and installed everything. How do you know? Sure that happens. It's a hit on me. But again, it's a learning experience. Okay, I'm not gonna do that twice. So having a specific like building those SOPs or like step by step, what to do when it's also really important for the business. No, just focus on let's bought the property and that's it.

B (21:50)

So Sebastian, you touched a little bit on like having the crew lined up on, you know, as soon as you're, you're closing on a property. What else has maybe changed about your rehab process from that first deal to how you operate today in terms of the rehab process?

C (22:05)

This is funny because the first time we used to, for example, like paint and clean and do other stuff before we do the electrical. So stuff like that is where we need to understand how to do it, what goes first. So electrical H Vacs, you know, pulling permits, all that stuff has to go first before you even start working again. I learned that through the hard way. And we had to pay some fines and got fine from the city, some violations. So that also again, it's more like thinking what's the business after? No, just focus on the property. So you need to have a buy the materials in bulk. That will save you a lot of money. Understand the timeline, the time that the property is going to be sitting after you list it for sale, or how the refinance process works, or who's going to be your hard money lender or the person who's going to so many. I will say like everything changed. I do not operate as I. The first property that we bought that was far away.

A (23:09)

We have to take a short break. But when we come back. We're going to find out more about private money machine that actually started to fuel your portfolio right after this. We'll be right back.

D (23:23)

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A (26:06)

When did making plans get this complicated?

C (26:10)

It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pinned messages so.

A (26:20)

No one forgets mom 60th and never.

C (26:23)

Miss a meme or milestone.

A (26:24)

All protected with end to end encryption.

C (26:27)

It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

A (26:30)

Learn more@WhatsApp.com okay, so Sebastian, you've proven the model works. But scaling from one deal to 13 doors requires something bigger and that's capital and relationships. So what was the very first conversation you had when you tried to raise private money? How did you approach it?

C (26:51)

That's a great question. It's something really interesting. As I mentioned before, it's only three ways that you can add value to someone. Money, knowledge, or time. Back then my first daughter and up to today we still are partners, but we became, we started being friends. So back then I was just had the time. So I started getting the knowledge. I had zero credit, zero monies, nothing. But my partner had everything else. So I start analyzing those properties, I start finding the opportunities and then I show it to him, right? He says yes, let's do it. I didn't approach. And this is what I always say, you don't. You can't approach this conversation as like I'm begging you for money. You have to understand what you're doing. Be confident on yourself. But also showing us an opportunity. This is the opportunity. Do you want to take it? Another big lesson here. If it's no, it's okay. Think as a no yet more no's that you go through closer to the yes. So 20 people will tell you no. The 21st or 21st. I'm going to tell You. Yes. So be real. Having those conversations is typically scary because the approach is like, oh, would you lend me some money? Do you think you can help me with this? Those were the conversations at the beginning. But again, because I was clear, transparent, honest with this friend, he was seeing what I was doing, and he saw the value of me, and I gave him what he didn't have the time. He was working crazy hours. So we match up and we say, okay, it's an opportunity here for both. It's a win, win. Let's move on. And since then, today we have a great portfolio. We still do business together. We still put properties under his name, under my name, now that my credit is better. But to be honest, I bought probably the first four or five properties. Everything with his money, he's done payment, his credit, his everything was him. So those conversations are, I don't know, just confident that in yourself, believe in yourself, like you're doing something good.

B (29:03)

Sebastian, you just said that this partner funded your first four or five deals, all of their capital, their credit. But you also just told us that you came to this country not speaking the language. You knew absolutely no one slept in your car. How did you go from that to actually meeting someone who had the means and the willingness to fund your deals? Like, where did you find this person? Because if you could go from where you started to, in a very few short years, having someone fund your deals, and there is literally no excuse for any other person listening to this podcast to not be able to raise money. So how did you. How did you find that person at.

C (29:37)

The bank where the money is? So this is the thing of relationships. So once. Once you know what you're doing, you start helping, talking to people, right? And you share what your thoughts are, what your approach is. So I had the ability, or my unfair advantage was being in the bank. You could come to me, I could see how much money you have in your account. What's your credit? What's your debt? I could see everything. So if I see that you were successful, I'd be like, ha. How do you make this money? What is your business? What did you do for work? And I was able to ask them those questions because they needed me. So it was like, unfair advantage. I started working with them, asking a majority of the people, real estate, real estate, real estate. I'm like, how do you do it? Like, how? Let me understand your transactions. And I just focus on these people. Quick tip. Where to find these people? I had so many good conversations at the gym with wealthy people because Someone, a mentor of mine, taught me that it's better to pay a little bit better member, monthly membership if you go and have this conversation with these people. So it's also surrender yourself where, you know, with, with the. You could find money, right? You understand? Take your phone. It's a really good book from you guys. How to. How to raise private capital. Like, that's my number one book.

A (31:06)

Matt Faircloth, I think.

C (31:07)

Yes. And I had the opportunity to talk to him in a mastermind company class that we had in. It's just true. Like, you go, I go through my phone. I get an opportunity, I go through my phone and I start looking number by number, one by one. If I present this to Ashley, what she will say? Well, maybe yes, no, maybe no. Okay. And then take these people and present the opportunity. Someone will say, yes. Like many times the, the, the. The big scarcity, I will say, is the money in my head. The big. The scarcity is like, I want to keep this relationship. It's fine if I pay you the money, even if I lose your money, you can sue me. You can have a real estate asset that you can get. Like, you're not gonna lose. But my goal is to have us relationship. We could do. We could do really good things. So it's not just the money. It's that what else you offer to this person. Many people at the bank industry, not only in the bank industry, but because I met them there, that they don't have the time. They have tons of money in their accounts. They don't know. They don't know what to do. And they prefer to put in a CD for 18 months at 4%. And I'm like, think about other things like FDIC insurance, all this stuff, like, why do you hold all your money there? But again, that person doesn't know that you know what you know. So you need to always tell everyone what you're doing, share what you're doing, and be truthful. You know, like, don't get advantage of anyone. That's the most important.

B (32:41)

Sebastian, sounds like part of what you're saying is just getting into the right rooms with people. And you're saying you were fortunate because in your just work that you did, you got to have a lot of conversations with wealthy individuals. You joined a more expensive gym. We've interviewed guests in the past who joined like country clubs and they would play tennis and golf there. And that's how they met some of their private money lenders. But you, you meet these people. How do you actually go from, hey, we're having a conversation about, oh, you're successful, you're a wealthy individual to can we potentially partner on something? So the very first time you reached out to that partner, what did that look like? Was it at the bank? Were you guys just there in the office? Did you exchange contact information? And what did that very, very first actual solicitation for partnership look like?

C (33:28)

Yeah, we were friends at the bank level. We worked together at the bank level. He was higher in position than me. But the approach, again, the approach was never like, hey, you know, I need some money. Or my approach was always like, my goal in life is this, I'm working to get there. And this person could see it, just see it next to me. I wasn't even asking him or telling him, would you be interested? I was just sharing who I am and being truthful. But if you want a specific example, this is something important through another bank friend. He recommended me, someone that it didn't. I didn't, I didn't know this person. She didn't know me. We had coffee once. I share all my information, all my portfolio. Show him, show her everything that I did. And this woman gave me a hundred thousand dollars. I didn't know her. Again, I even, I didn't even go to that meeting asking for money. I was like, hey, she, she might interest. You'll be interested in what you do. I've been talking about you a lot, but I'm like, oh, thank you, let's have a conversation. It's more like I was like, hey, let me help you. What do you want? What are your questions? She's just like, hey, I love what you're doing. Would you let me be part of partner of this? And I'm like, ah, sure, why not? Right? So again, it's probably, it's probably the vision, how we see it is like, oh, I need this, I need this. No, you don't need that. You need to become certain person. You need to have certain habits. You need to be doing certain things. Then the money is going to come, then the person is going to show up. That's pretty much what I think.

A (35:10)

Now that you know this woman in particular, anybody, I guess. When they've offered you the money, how do you actually make them feel secure in the deal? What are the next steps after they say, yes, I want to invest with you? What does the deal analysis look like? What information do you give them so that they actually feel secure in the investment?

C (35:32)

Yeah, no, that's a great question. The most important is again, transparency. Second, a Deep, deep, deep down into the. What the property looks like. The numbers, comps, rental comps, you know, potentially rv potential rehab or cost on the renovations. Like the whole project. This person saw it. We had monthly or quarterly calls. Depends on what she was looking for. In some point it was quarterly. It's just letting her know how the deal goes. What are we doing? What are the next projects coming up? That's what, that's how we handle it. But what I show is everything, to be honest. Like, I don't try, I even show, hey, this is how much I'm going to make. Like, are you okay with it? And that also bring me a really important point. Through these, these few partners that we had, we understand that, no, everyone can be the partner, right? Maybe the person was interested at the beginning, but it didn't have the same goal. Or they have another idea on how much again, they get upset of, oh, you're making all the money. Okay, would you asylum partner? You want to be a most, you know, into the investment, I can do that too, but you have to put in. So sometimes you also understand what vision and what they're looking for. And at the same time you can say, like, yeah, maybe I. Maybe we're not the right fit for each other. Maybe we cannot work together. So I think that's lessons that we learned. I learned through raising money and talking with people about, hey, give me your funds, I'm gonna do this. Are you comfortable with it? And the number one, I don't know, way that everyone feels comfortable is like, these people typically understand who I am, where I live, what, my career, exactly as you guys. I came here not long ago. I'm doing this. This, this. This is me. If you feel that you trust me, let's do it. If you don't feel that you trust me, that's okay. Again, it's a no. Yet. You're gonna call me in the future. I'm 100% sure.

A (37:35)

For somebody who's listening to this and has no money, no experience, and they want to take their very first step. So what should they be doing today to start building out a private money machine just like yours?

C (37:51)

I will say, changing their habits, becoming a person who, if you are able to talk to anyone, you can add value to anyone. So you need to be an expert on something. You need to understand finances. Well, understand, I don't know, rehab or construction or something. You need to be an expert in something. So that will be my number one. Learn something really well. Be an expert on something. Something you can Share that with someone else. So go to meetups, go to join a mastermind. Like, talk to people and share your goals. That's also really important. Many times you see people with the same goals. So there we go. You found a partner. You guys can work together, maybe if you don't actually partner up in a deal, but you can be accountable. And that's also really important because this is a long journey, and you need friends, you need the community, you need bigger pockets. You can do this on your own. Like, it will be impossible. So I think that's having a budget, understanding where you are in terms of, like, are you bankable? Can you get a loan? Is your credit okay? Is your income good or no? Okay, so find a person who can provide you that. What can you provide for this person? Oh, this person doesn't have time. I have time. I feel that masterminds and books and changing or becoming the person that you want to become or you want to be is the right approach of anyone could do today to start, you know, changing their lives.

B (39:26)

Yeah, Sebastian, it's great advice. And I think one of the biggest takeaways from your episode is that it doesn't matter where you start. You couldn't have started from a more challenging position. And yet, even with the challenges you faced, you were still able to go out, build the network, build a portfolio, and achieve something pretty incredible in a relatively short period of time. And I think a lot of that success comes down to the fact that you focused on, hey, what is the value that I can provide? Right. First, understanding what your value was. And you said at the beginning it was time to. And your ability to acquire knowledge. Those are two things that a lot of people listening currently have. Time and the ability to acquire knowledge. And as you did those things, you simultaneously focused on expanding your network. And when you break it down that way, time, knowledge, and network. Those are the three things that someone needs to build the foundation to then scale their portfolio more quickly. And it's. You know, I don't even know if you. If you even realize how simple of a formula you've built out, but when. When I heard you kind of going through your story, it's like, man, if we could just get more people to focus on those three things. Time, skills, and network. And, dude, I love your story, man. Congratulations, brother. It's amazing.

A (40:52)

Well, Sebastian, thank you so much for joining us today. Can you let everyone know where they can reach out to you and find out more information about your journey?

C (41:00)

Absolutely. Absolutely. You can find me on Instagram as Sebas Romy09. I think it's my underscore in my email. RS Investment Group number 20mail.com if you got my phone number too, I don't care. 602-394-4999.

A (41:19)

Well, there you go. You can go ahead and and give them a call or shoot them a text. Well, thank you guys so much for joining us today. Sebastian, thank you for bringing your knowledge to the rookie audience and sharing your story. Thank you. I'm Ashley, he's Tony. Thank you guys so much for listening.

D (41:40)

Limu emu and Doug.

C (41:43)

Here we have the limu emu in.

D (41:45)

Its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Savings ferry unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance.

B (42:08)

Company affiliates excludes Massachusetts.