You keep suggesting for him to get into a HEL, yet you fail to realize that that would mean he has to pay P&I, not just interest. It's obvious the OP cannot afford any higher of a payment (which when the feds meet at the end of the month, will happen). Personally, I think you are in over your head, however my only suggestion is that with your current credit score, you could probably get into a 10 year interest only 30 year fixed rate. But now that I think about it, you need a second to avoid PMI. As far as I know, most HELOCS Fixed rate loan options are P&I, so fixing that won't help you either. The 0% game is probably your best bet, but is dangerous as hell. Good luck! (Ask for a raise, get married to a rich wife, those things could help a little)

JayJNM said:You keep suggesting for him to get into a HEL, yet you fail to realize that that would mean he has to pay P&I, not just interest. It's obvious the OP cannot afford any higher of a payment (which when the feds meet at the end of the month, will happen).

Actually it's obvious to anyone who has actually run the numbers that the OP has given us that he could get a fixed rate Home Equity Loan in addition to his first mortgage for under the $4,000/month he is shooting for. The problem is that he wants to pay less interest. Outside of credit card games and low interest intro rate Heloc flipping, I don't see a lot of options that are available for the OP to lower his interest expense in his situation and in this interest rate enviroment. A fixed rate HEL may save him some interest and put a cap on his interest expense.