I did the math out of boredom: Phil paid about $1,100 / month * 60 months = $66,000 in mortgage and HOA fees after moving to Renton. Add in property tax and utilities (many utilities charge you just for being a customer and New England is cold enough that he might have had to keep the heat on in the winter so the pipes wouldn't burst) and we're looking at closer to $70,000. Now he's probably looking at another $10-15,000 in HOA fees on the property by the time it sells so maybe $80k-$90k total, all for an empty property.
For comparison, a short sale would have only cost him about $60k if he'd sold back in 2014 - Phil is so retarded with money that he found a deal even worse than short selling and paying the difference himself