Mr Bray (28), who has worked for Mana Property Management for just over two years, won the Rising Star award at the Leading Property Managers of New Zealand’s awards for excellence gala dinner in Auckland recently.
He has been working with Mana Property Management directors Kyle and Tania Elmer, bringing in "loads" of new systems.
They were able to introduce the cloud-based recording and management systems thanks to Giga initiatives not available previously, Mr Elmer said.
The benefits had been "huge" and they were now researching more of what they could do, he said.
It was the first time Mana Property Management had entered the awards and the company was thrilled with Mr Bray’s success.
He joined the business from outside the property management industry, something Mr and Mrs Elmer liked as they could then train him in the systems and processes.
Some of the biggest agencies in Auckland were members of the organisation so they were "taking on the big kids", Mr Elmer said.
Heading to the awards, Mr Bray said he had that "whole kind of South Island feeling", not knowing if he was going to be able to compete with his Auckland counterparts.
"I was really ecstatic to be able to win the award," he said.
A qualified primary school teacher, he decided to branch out and work in retail and management and worked at Mitre 10 and Warehouse Stationery before joining Mana Property Management.
The best part of being a property manager was that no two days were the same and there were always challenges.
One day could be quiet and the next could be "jam-packed". Before Gigatown, the company was not able to communicate easily with property owners, particularly those based overseas.
Now they were able to introduce new processes and systems to make it easier and there were a lot more possibilities, he said.Mr Elmer said business was "steady", something characteristic of Dunedin, which did not experience Auckland’s "rock and roll" business scene. However, he had noticed "definitely a wee pick up of late", especially with Aucklanders looking to invest in the South.
