What $3,700 rents 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: $3,700.

This one-bed, one-bath East Cut condo on Howard Street advertises the high-rise lifestyle for $3,600/month. “Due to the unique shape of the Towers at Rincon, each apartment has a layout and a view unlike any other,” notes the ad, though it hopes to entice with the standard suite of floor-to -ceiling windows, hardwood floors, “European-style appliances” (presumably distinct from actually European ones), plus building amenities like rooftop terrace and resident lounge. Both cats and dogs are game, but they’re an extra $75/month. Note that the unit measures only 620 square feet.

Pacific Heights is not a place most renters go hunting for a bargain, but a deal is a relative thing. Take, for example. this condo, which costs a bit extra compared to the last one—$3,700/month—but the price rents over 1,400 square feet, with two beds and two baths packed in. The ad dubs this home an “architect’s condo,” which again is a bit ambiguous—is this unidentified architect the owner, a former tenant, or merely the designer?—with “marble floor, granite counter tops, [...] track lighting, rain showers and large bathtubs, wood burning fireplace, and furnished roof deck.” Cats are allowed here, but no dogs.

The ever-present R-word—remodel—creeps its way into the Castro with this next offering, an”updated” two-bedroom, one bath apartment on Castro Street, above the Cove restaurant and “directly across the street from the Castro Theater” and “close to tech shuttles”—so quite an intersection of potentially divergent priorities. “Apartment is completely remodeled” with “brand new bathroom.” The ad notes that the “living room can be used as a third bedroom.” While this is technically true of any living room if renters are willing to make certain sacrifices, it does make more fiscal sense considering rent is $3,700/month. The also ad says that cats are allowed here, but then later contradictorily says no pets. Just like a cat—can never decide if it’s in or out.

The final two offerings provide a potential neighborhood rivalry with competing homes just a few blocks away in the Outer Sunset. First, Judah Street offers the lower half of a duplex for $3,700/month, packing in two beds and one bath in 1,200 square feet with “large foyer,” “nine foot ceiling with crown molding accent,” “original hardwood floor,” “formal dining room with chandelier,” and a remodeled (of course) kitchen and bathroom. Both dogs and pets are welcome, but only if they’re under 20 pounds—how to get them to stay on the scale is your problem. The lower unit gets access to the one car garage as well.

Head south toward Noriega Street and the same $3,700/month price nets a full two-story house also with two beds and one bath, plus a “remodel contemporary design” (there’s that word again); “custom Scavolini Italian design imported kitchen”; “frosted glass panels doors”; and “Italian porcelain floor tiles in living room, kitchen, and bathroom.” Whether the lime green palate in the bathroom is original or a remodel isn’t clear. There’s a one-car garage here as well, but no pets allowed. The ad also specifically forbids Airbnb.