Seeking Advice on Mortgage Situation - Fed Raising Interest Rates is Killing Me

Caught this before it got jannied:

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some advice regarding my mortgage situation. Three years ago, my mortgage broker structured my loan in a way that would allow me to avoid paying mortgage insurance. The loan is split into an 80% primary mortgage with a balance of $465k and a 3% interest rate, and a 20% secondary HELOC with a balance of $180k and an 8% interest rate.

In hindsight that was a dumb way to structure the mortgage, and I can’t change it, so I don’t want to dwell on it.

I put 15% down when I bought the house.

Unfortunately, the recent interest rate hikes by the Fed are killing me. My monthly HELOC payment has increased from $500/month to $1200/month with no end in sight. I used the entire HELOC to buy my house, so I'm really feeling the squeeze.

I'm reaching out for advice because I don't know what to do. I know that cashing out my IRA to pay off a large portion of the HELOC is an option, but I'm hesitant to do so because it will significantly impact my retirement potential. I do have other investments and a 401k, but the IRA in question has the potential to increase fivefold by the time I retire.

I also understand that calling my primary mortgage lender to ask them to absorb the secondary HELOC at the primary interest rate is likely not an option.

So, I'm at a loss. I don't want to sell my home and move, but I also can't continue to bleed money like this. If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.

I don’t know what to do.

Thank you in advance.

Probably bought a ~780k home. OP missed the part of the strategy where you pay down the HELOC before getting completely fricked by it. He's getting downmarseyd in all the comments since he's being a little catty about it. Other info:

$200k supporting 4 people (SAHM, college student, two teenagers). My wife’s basic full time job is shuttling kids around, dealing with school, insurance, schedules, etc.

$1000 / month in car payments

I can manage it’s just tighter than I’d like.

Also, he took his family to Hawaii two weeks ago.