What $2,700 rents you in SF 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: $2,700.

Via Craigslist

Got to hand it to them, “centrally located downtown apartment near SoMa” is a heck of a long way to just say the Tenderloin, but it is not technically incorrect or even quite misleading. The building at 320 Turk has been holding down the Tenderloin since 1924 but the interiors of this one bed, one bath apartment look extremely contemporary, down to the white finish on the cabinets and the dramatically dark gray-toned floors. That one bedroom looks a little on the narrow side, but then so does the entire place for all of $2,595 per month. On the very bright side, pets are fine here—another thing that’s reasonably reliable about the Tenderloin—so long as they clock in at less than 40 pounds and renters are able to pay another $40 per month.

Via Craigslist

When renting in the Marina an apartment cannot be said to be centrally located, even when bending the truth to the degree usually obligated when advertising on Craigslist, so instead this place gets billing as a “prime location” right on North Point Street and Scott, just two blocks south of Marina Green and everything that comes with it. “One studio available in gorgeous 1920’s style” the ad says, promising a third floor perch with “hardwood floors, isulated windows, large walk-in closet, spacious separate dining area and kitchen,” and access to the roof deck. But it’s $2,700 per month and no pets allowed.

Via Craigslist

The trapezoid-shaped attic apartment is another singular oddity of San Francisco renting that potential tenants just have to get used to. This one is a “large top floor one bedroom [one bath] with views” in NoPa on Central Avenue. Dubbed a cCharming loft apartment in five unit building,” the slant of the ceilings is a potential decorator’s challenge, but the ad tries to entice with “mini deck with direct access to backyard,” wall to wall carpets, and new linoleum floors in the kitchen. The rent is $2,700 per month, and that covers the bills including PG&E, but it does not apparently buy enough leeway for pets too.

Via Craigslist

This Hayes Valley unit lays it all out: “trendy studio, newly remodeled, exposed brick,” which is a few syllables short of being an accidental Craigslist haiku. Per past Comparisons a one bedroom home in this circa 1907 building is nearly $3,700 per month, so by that standard the price break for a studio at $2,695 is quite significant. The promises of “beautiful exposed brick throughout” and “refinished hardwood floors” are the same for this apartment, as is the lenient rules about pets: all allowed, “no pet rent, pet deposit or weight restrictions” needed.

Via Craigslist

It seems two bedroom homes at this price mark are getting increasingly scarce, although here’s one via an in-law in the Richmond, a two bed and one bath setup with 800 square feet just off 27th Avenue. The landlord promises “both rooms have views into a beautiful shared backyard,” but the catch here is that the apartment does not have a kitchen. That means that by the strict legal definition this place is not actually an apartment at all, although the fact that it costs $2,700 per month and doesn’t allow pets is very apartment-like. The ad recommends improvising with a microwave or hot plate, although where the dishes are going to go is anybody’s guess.