400 vendors in town for Black Hills Home Show

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) -With building material shortages across the country, finding the resources to build your dream home can be time-consuming and costly.

Darin Howie, President of the Black Hills Home Builders Association says, a home buyer’s number one goal at the convention is to talk to contractors.

He states “Walk around, talk to the contractors…talk to the suppliers, see what new is out there. Get on schedule…see how far they are timelines. With shortages in materials, you need to get in line as fast as possible to get your project completed.”

Along with growing supply chain issues, resources like gas have skyrocketed

Duane Bickett, State Representative for National Association of Home Builders says buyers want modern homes that are energy efficient.

“I think like everybody, we’re looking at labor…were looking at shortages, were looking at price, were looking at affordability. We try to look at research and the science and make sure that what we were building is not only functional and attractive but also energy efficient. It says we’re trying to use as many things that can be recycled at the end of their life span to make sure we’re doing everything we can to move housing forward.”

Danny Delange, project manager at Black Hills Exteriors, says that the future of homes is off the power grid.

“We are just branching out into solar, were going to be installing panels and battery systems helping people with their electric bill. As well as adding a lot of equity in their home, trying to save them some money. Eventually, the electric bill goes away…you are self-sufficient, if the power goes out you still have what you need to survive.”