What $3,600 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: $3,600.

The ad for this one-bed, one-bath home in the Marina declares that it’s a “classic San Francisco apartment” but also says that it has a “hacienda-style feel,” which suggests some potentially interesting ideas about the history of classic San Francisco. The home is inside a 12-unit Chestnut Street building from 1928. The long room with the bay windows and wall sconces is the living room, and the smaller window flanked by built-ins is the dining room, connecting to a “galley-style” kitchen. Pets are a go here, with an unspecified extra fee attached. The baseline rent is $3,595 per month.

This home in Portola offers views from its spacious hillside deck. Lovely. The house is a two-bed, one-bath setup that measures over 850 square feet. It comes with hardwood floors, new central heating, and a combination of skylights and inset lighting in the kitchen. The bathroom is newly remodeled. But, sadly, no pets are allowed. The rent is $3,600 per month.

Phrases like “garden apartment” and “in-law” conjure up images of small, sometimes ad hoc apartments and studios. But the advertised proportions of this Sunset in-law are almost difficult to believe, it being a four-bed, two-bath apartment that comes in at over 1,100 square feet. In fact, despite this being a sentiment that borders on the obscene, $3,600 per month is actually pretty cheap for a four-bed home in SF, which means that, indeed, there’s a catch here—namely, the kitchen. There isn’t much of it. And there’s no stove or oven. The renters will have to make do with the microwave. No pets, either.

Not only is the 1550 Mission high-rise a new building, it’s also the basis of a whole new neighborhood—or so it would like to believe, as for years this intersection of Market, Van Ness, and South Van Ness has really been a no-man’s land, and it remains to be seen whether “Van Mission” will catch on as a community, or for that matter as a name people will take seriously. The offer here is a studio for $3,600 per month, with hardwood floors, grey oak cabinets, and “Calacatta Caldia marble slab backsplash” in the kitchen. the building also offers a rooftop pool and hot tub, a top-floor clubhouse, a theater, a dog run, and even a building library with a curated book collection.

Last of all, the 1410 Jones building in Nob Hill dates to 1910. Although it’s an old building, it’s keeping up with the times (or maybe just necessities) by offering virtual tours, the ad noting that “housing is essential, and so is social distancing”—thanks for doing your part, folks. This is a studio for $3,600 per month, and pets are allowed as long as they’re under 40 pounds.