I did all the work, except for help placing a beam and screwing cabinets in...my son in law helped. About 8 hours maybe total. I could have installed the cabinets myself, but he was staying here with family, and had free time.
Ok, then I take back what I said. You put nontrivial sweat equity into your place and lost it, and not through your fault. It’s also true that the system is rigged against you, if you happen upon a desirable property (especially a good location) and make it more desirable, then someone will try to take it from you. But in your case you want to walk away which is not as typical. How long had you originally planned to stay in your area?