More LGBTQ+ homebuyers trade city life for suburban communities
While many LGBTQ+ couples have historically chosen to live in big cities, more are now moving to the suburbs across the Philadelphia region.
Kyle Taveira and Martin Alfaro purchased their home in Palmyra, New Jersey, earlier this year after selling their two-bedroom rowhome in South Philadelphia.
"Like everyone always says, you just kind of know when you know," Taveira said about finding their new home. Buying a house is as much a financial decision as it is emotional, he said.
"I immediately imagined our dogs running around and just like being so extremely happy, and it just gave, like a family vibe," he said.
Taveira, an architect, said they bought the 1920s era colonial knowing it'd be a long term project. They have been documenting the renovations on social media.
After getting engaged, they said this felt like the next logical step as they look to start a family.
"It was a big responsibility, but it's also equal to where we are as a couple in a relationship," Alfaro said. "This is the first step to then building a family and, growing old together, that kind of thing."
They are not alone. Real estate broker Mon Kramer with KW Empower Reality said more LGBTQ+ buyers are looking beyond the city, driven in part by remote work and a desire for more space.
"I think we're just recreating community differently now across broader suburban regions and I think that's a trending shift that we've been seeing since the pandemic," Kramer said.
"People are looking for more space, specifically millennial buyers, if we are having kids or thinking about starting a family, meaning more space, access to schools."
For Kramer, a Delaware County native, it is also encouraging to see suburbs becoming more welcoming.
"We see queer things popping up all the time. It's been really nice and I'm grateful to be from here and, not feel so othered when you're going out to the burbs," Kramer said.
Back in Palmyra, the work of homeownership is ongoing but Taveira and Alfaro say it's all part of the journey. The day CBS News Philadelphia visited, Taveira was playfully teasing Alfaro about installing the some of the flooring backwards.
"Every time we finish a project, there's another one that comes up," Alfaro said. "I didn't think we were going to do this much in four months. It's wild."
"I thought we were going slow," Taveira responded with a smirk.
Renovating a home can be one of the most stressful things a couple can go through, but Taveira and Alfaro say it is about perspective.
"Every house has a story," Taveira said, "and I wanted something that could tell our story and that we could create over time as well, which is why we want to fix her up."
