That’s too bad. It’s probably best not to buy a home that you can’t afford to maintain. Or perhaps there were other circumstances, such as illness.
He probably bought it for the value of the site, with the intention of demolishing the house if it couldn’t be renovated at a reasonable cost.
The local taxes were never considered, apparently.
Over the years the house was owned, the taxes paid would equal the house cost. Hawaii is an expensive state in which to live.
Tom Selleck could have used a reverse mortgage....
(he does commercials for those)