Connor Krone with Harry near his new apartment in the city. Aiming to make his first home purchase a solid investment, Mr. Krone looked in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx for the right space at the right price. Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

For a year before he moved to New York, Connor Krone drove across the country in a camper van that he built himself. When he finally arrived, as Covid was waning, he spent four more months in the camper van, parking on the street in various non-Manhattan neighborhoods.

Mr. Krone — who basically transformed a delivery van into a mini-apartment — used a composting toilet and showered at the gym. He even had a three-camera security system and a temperature monitor for when he had to leave his dog, Harry, alone.

“People live in New York in really creative ways, and this is maybe an extreme example,” Mr. Krone, 37, said. “The camper van was more livable than people would imagine.”

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But eventually he needed something bigger and stationary, so he moved into an artists’ warehouse in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he paid $1,800 a month. With 900 square feet, it could fit gym equipment, power tools and art made by his grandfather, a painter and illustrator. Mr. Krone did woodworking projects and helped friends build furniture.