Seeing construction companies fold throughout the state and needing a house for his brother-in-law, and his family, the Vietnam veteran decided to think outside the box.
Mr Kerekes looked to multi-award-winning kit homes supplier iBuild to provide him with a home that he could build himself faster and more economically.
And he is not the only one.
According to IBISWorld, which provides insights on Australian and global industries, companies, as well as key business indicators, the number of Australian home building companies operating in the industry will fall by nine per cent in 2022-23.
This will in turn leave many Australian families at risk of being left homeless and out of pocket.
iBuild co-founder Jackson Yin said that under such circumstances many Australians were looking away from traditional home builders.
“Thousands of owner-builders like Benalla local Alex Kerekes, put a roof over their heads every year using Australian-made kit homes. Kit or modular homes have seen a real resurgence in the past 12 months, keeping their housing dreams alive when traditional builders cannot,” Mr Yin said
Mr Kerekes found that the kit home option not only meant he could effectively help his brother-in-law, but not going through traditional home builders required significantly lower investment and also allowed a much quicker build time.
“The whole process meant we could help my wife’s brother and because the iBuild components arrived flat packed, we were able to give him somewhere to live fast,” Mr Kerekes said.