Owner Edwin Ding spent three years transforming 46 Gordon Rd, Mount Waverley, into a house-style family home that its agent says could offer buyers a $300,000-$400,000 shortcut into the suburb’s prized school zone.
Families priced out of Mount Waverley’s detached housing market could save up to $400,000 by opting for a renovated townhouse in the suburb’s prized secondary school zone.
The four-bedroom home at 46 Gordon Rd has a $1.25m-$1.35m price guide following a three-year transformation by owner Edwin Ding.
Buxton Mount Waverley agent Peter Serafino said the property offered many of the benefits of a house, including its own driveway, street frontage and no active owners corporation, at a significantly lower price.
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“This townhouse resembles a lot of what a house would offer,” Mr Serafino said.
“You have your own driveway and your own frontage. There is no active owners corporation here and all the insurances are separate.
“So this is effectively buying what a house could offer at a much lower price point.”
Mr Serafino estimated recreating a renovation of a similar scale and quality would cost $150,000-$250,000, depending on the scope of work.
He said high construction costs were encouraging families to consider renovated townhouses rather than older detached houses needing extensions.
“Buyers want to live comfortably and they are happy to make some improvements, but they do not necessarily want to have to do extensions because building costs are very high,” Mr Serafino said.
The original lounge room at 46 Gordon Rd before owner Edwin Ding began the townhouse’s three-year renovation.
A new barn-style door now connects the redesigned lounge with the kitchen and dining area, helping the ground floor feel brighter and more spacious.
While buyers typically sacrificed land and backyard space, he said they could gain a larger and more practical internal footprint.
At Gordon Rd, that included four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a ground-floor room suitable as a bedroom or home office.
Mr Serafino sold the townhouse to Mr Ding in 2023 and said it had undergone a major transformation when he returned to appraise it.
“He shifted the floorplan on the ground floor and it made it feel a lot more spacious,” Mr Serafino said.
“The improvements, paintwork and colour palette also made the home feel more modern and brighter.”
He described it as the best renovated townhouse or unit he had sold.
The dated bathroom was among the first areas Mr Ding planned to update after buying the Mount Waverley townhouse in 2023.
The renovated bathroom now features marble-look Italian porcelain tiles, a wall-hung vanity, heated towel rail and anti-fog mirror.
Mr Ding said he had fallen in love with the home’s Tudor frontage when he first inspected it and initially intended to stay long term.
“I absolutely loved the character and the Tudor frontage,” Mr Ding said.
“I was planning to live in it long term, but obviously life happens and now I think it is time to move on to the next chapter of my life.”
The original kitchen before the floorplan and finishes were overhauled as part of the three-year transformation.
The new kitchen has Aoraki Lago stone benchtops, an Ilve oven and cooktop, Schweigen rangehood and gunmetal Phoenix tapware.
What began as a plan to update the kitchen and bathrooms gradually expanded into a three-year renovation.
“I started off just with the bathrooms and the kitchen and, as I was living in the property, I felt like I needed to add more features to it,” Mr Ding said.
Mr Ding retained the Tudor-inspired exterior, repainting the roof and timber detailing, while giving the interior a modern appearance.
The redesigned kitchen has stone benchtops, an Ilve oven and cooktop and gunmetal tapware, while the bathrooms have floor-to-ceiling Italian porcelain tiles, heated towel rails and anti-fog mirrors.
The newly created dining area forms part of a more open ground-floor layout designed to improve space, light and connection through the home.
Mr Ding said the bathrooms were the most expensive and difficult part of the renovation because of the waterproofing, trades and finishes.
He used the ground-floor fourth bedroom as a study while working from home three to four days a week.
Mr Ding said the Mount Waverley Secondary College zone and proximity to shops and public transport had been major factors in his decision to buy.
“It was so convenient to Mount Waverley Secondary College. It is literally on the same road,” he said.
The landscaped outdoor area includes a composite entertaining deck with integrated lighting and low-maintenance gardens designed for privacy.
Mr Ding is now considering moving closer to the water, potentially on the Mornington Peninsula, although he has not ruled out renovating again.
“I am a big fan of renovations, so hopefully I can find something where I can still get my hands dirty,” he said.
“But probably not to the extent of the work I have done in this house.”
The property is scheduled to go under the hammer at 10.30am on August 15.
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