What $3,800 rents you in San Francisco right now

Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person’s studio another person’s townhouse? Today’s price: $3,800.

↑ Fact of the matter is the Mint Plaza building at Fifth and Mission remains the best use of a former fire station since the original Ghostbusters. And judging from the rental offerings, the condo owners there are aware of it. Case in point, a one-bed, one-bath, 630-square-foot condo with 12-foot ceilings for $3,800/month, a decidedly mint price to match the Mint decor. “The well-appointed bedroom also has a study-nook and huge custom closet,” though the photos preserve the mystery on what precisely a “study nook” is in this context. The lease allows both cats and dogs.

↑ From the street, this Victorian in Cow Hollow rises to a remarkably dramatic looking peak. Inside, the one-bed, one-bath apartment slotted into the top floor assumes the distinctive shape of a long, cylindrical trapezoid, described here as “a loft” although the layout doesn’t appear to be capable of matching that description. “This is a one a kind apartment,” the ad reads, which indeed it must be, although the price of $3,750 is more or less normal for this day and age in San Francisco. No pets allowed, though; a policy that, sadly, is not one of a kind.

↑ If smaller potatoes aren’t cutting it for certain renters, there’s always the case of a “HUGE 1,850 square foot” house in Silver Terrace on Bancroft Avenue, also asking $3,800. This home will score you three bedrooms, two baths, and a garage, all tucked behind a relatively tidy looking yellow exterior. “Pets negotiable” on this one.

↑ Or, for a bit less space in exchange for a more in-demand location—the Outer Sunset proved quite a contender in the 2017 Curbed Cup—a two-bed, two-bath, 1,200-square-foot apartment on Lawton Street, just on the other side of 20th Avenue, circa 1909 runs $3,750. It’s one of a set of squarish triplex homes on the block crammed with woodwork. No pets allowed here though—if it’s not one tradeoff, it’s another.

↑ Finally, this Mission building on 16th Street shows a charitable disposition, in that potential renters might recognize its distinctive yellow facade as the home of the Fraternite of Notre Dame soup kitchen, after the nuns were run out of the Tenderloin by a tremendous rent hike on their longtime locale (which remains empty today). The building of course is home to lots more than that, including a two bedroom, one bath apartment advertising an “open, modern layout” and a granite bathroom for $3,795. No pets allowed here either—charity only goes so far, it seems.