What $2,400 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 another person’s townhouse? Today’s price: $2,400.

This “new modern studio with rooftop terrace” in SoMa comes with two big qualifiers. One, it’s a new building. Previously this lot hosted a squat red building that served as a Thai restaurant for some years, replaced by this tall, pencil-thin 15-unit building last year. The other big caveat is that the place is small at just over 330 square feet. So tiny, in fact, that it includes additions like a Murphy bed to try to make up the difference in space. The ad also makes several references to an outdoor kitchen, but not to worry, the kitchenette is safely ensconced inside the unit—the reference is to a grilling area on the communal rooftop patio. Pets are “negotiable.” The deal here is $2,375 per month—which is new and modern indeed.

Two Richmond rentals in very close proximity offer two very different concepts of a bargain. First up, in the Outer Richmond on Cabrillo Street, just a couple blocks north of the park, this in-law unit comes with two beds, one bath, and a lot of pastel colors. The home looks out into a quaint backyard that’s split with the main house. A nice arrangement, but with one problem: there’s no kitchen. And you can’t share the kitchen in the main house; landlord says simply that renters must make “other arrangements” for food preparation. (Note that under California law, a landlord must provide a kitchen sink, distinct from the bathroom sink, but it’s not as if this is the first time anyone turned a blind eye to such things.) No pets allowed, and it’s $2,400 per month, kitchen or not.

This apartment on 25th Avenue, a couple of blocks east of the previous pad, offers a kitchen, so it’s got a leg up on the former space. In fact, it even comes with a dining room that’s small but is nevertheless a distinct room all its own. The only catch here is that rather than two bedrooms, this home is marketed as a junior one-bed. However, looking at the floor plan, it appears more like a reconfigured studio. This one rents for $2,400 per month. And again, no pets.

The junior bedroom in this apartment in the Haight, inside a circa-1927 building on the west side of Buena Vista Park, is a loft space. But rather than larger units where the loft is effectively located on an entire floor unto itself, this is a small but not quite claustrophobic bunk, perched above an alcove with the apartment’s one closet, referred to in the ad as the “dressing area.” The listing also mentions that the building just finished a seismic retrofit, and calls it a “minimalist dream.” Speaking of doing the minimum, no dogs are allowed, but renters can bring cats. The one part that’s not minimal: the price tag of $2,395 per month.

Last up, the eastern tip of Bernal Heights furnishes one more in-law, this one being a one-bed, one-bath setup with 440 square feet. There is garage parking included, but it’s going to cost an extra $250 on top of everything else. Sans the garage, the deal is $2,400 even. No word on pets.