What $4,300 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 is another person’s townhouse? Today’s price: $4,300.

This one-bed, one-bath apartment has almost everything going for it: an A-plus neighborhood (Russian Hill), proximity to a world famous landmark (the crooked stretch of Lombard), enough buffer not to worry about tourist traffic on said stretch of street, a beautiful yard, tasteful (if uninventive) interiors, and a landlord that accepts cats and dogs. True, it’s $4,300 per month, which is hardly ideal, but this is San Francisco. And at 620 square feet, it’s not the most bang for your buck. The real catch is that, per the listing, the place is “available fully furnished and equipped only,” so hopefully potential tenants like the decor and don’t have much in the way of cargo.

If ever there was a quintessential Inner Richmond apartment, this is it. Ensconced within a gorgeous blue-gray Victorian on Fourth Avenue, this three-bed, split-bath, top-floor flat promises Victorian-style looks with high ceilings, period moldings, and a decorative fireplace. There’s also a formal dining room, bay windows, a walk-through closet connecting two of the bedrooms, fruit-bearing trees in the yard, and both a sunroom and a “bonus room.” The carpeting is a bit of a shame, but at least it matches the earth-tone palette of the unit. Unfortunately, no pets are allowed, which is also typical of the neighborhood, as is the $4,300 per month asking price.

Speaking of palettes, the red-stained hardwood flooring inside this two-bed, two-bath loft in South Beach is a knockout. This Bluxome Street offering comes with “1,100 square feet of loft-style living space,” 15-foot floor to ceiling windows, and skylights. There’s also a working fireplace and a private deck (a cement construct that better resembles a large balcony) “large enough for BBQ and outdoor dining.” The ad deems the unit ideal for young couples or families, but they’d better come alone because no pets are allowed. And they’d better be able to stretch $4,300 per month.

Pet lovers who felt jilted by South Beach can always head inland to Potrero Hill, where a similar two-bed, two-bath home on 25th Street has space enough for dogs and cats (under 25 pounds), along with anything else that can fit inside 1,350 square feet and 18-foot ceilings in what’s deemed a “spacious live/work bi-level loft.” The ad singles this place as a “modern building,” which, per the Planning Department, means completed in 2003. Rents in the ballpark of $4,200 per month were not the norm in the neighborhood back then, but times change. Note that the bedroom count includes “mezzanine level as primary bedroom.”

And in Bayview, “refreshed” is the word when it comes to a this single-family home on Hawes Street, featuring four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and approximately 1,500 square feet. The room count is a bit confusing: the main house comes with two beds and one bath; there’s a separate one-bed, one-bath apartment that’s lumped in with the house to rent as a whole; and there’s a converted attic space that “can serve as a bedroom if you’re under six feet tall.” For an extra dash of honesty, the ad notes “a lot of old house funkiness but plenty of space” for $4,200 per month. No word on pets.