By Frankie Osborn / Community Columnist

Westover

Whether it’s rustling up cattle in the Southwest or mortgages here in Alabama, Ben Dunham is a “go get ‘em” kind of guy. He has found a way to incorporate his love for Colorado and being a cowboy with his regular job of doing mortgage loans. He has branded himself “The Home Loan Outfitter” with Assurance Mortgage Company.

Ben grew up here in Alabama and attended Briarwood Christian School. He went on to The University of Alabama where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Science. When he wasn’t working on his studies, Ben loved helping his dad on the cattle farm. Ben’s dad is the well renowned and loved orthopedic surgeon from UAB, Dr. William Dunham. In 1994 Dr. Dunham started the small family cattle farm in Alpine called Dunham Cattle Farm. It was a stress reliever from the hospital duty and quality time with his son. Ben grew to love the business and has now taken over the reins. He has about 70 head of cattle now and a full time hand to help with the farm.

He really got to experience the cowboy life after college while living in Colorado. He went out west for graduate school and started working at Wells Fargo. He found that he really loved doing home mortgage and finance. “I love being able to outfit my clients with the perfect mortgage for their situation.” said Ben. Also, while in Colorado, he worked on guest ranches and with outfitters and the cowboy in him was reborn.

“I chose to brand myself the Home Loan Outfitter due to my love of Colorado and working for guest ranches and outfitters out west. To me it is much better explanation of what I do than ‘loan officer.’ I want to use my knowledge of mortgages and federal guidelines to outfit my clients with the best financing they can get for their goals and dreams so that they can improve their financial future.” said Ben.

When asked about mortgage rates, Ben had this to say, “Mortgage rates have been on a slow decline since the November of 2018 and are now at their lowest level since November 2016. The low rates that we are seeing now are not going to last forever, but it means now is a great time to purchase or look at refinancing to a more favorable rate and monthly payment. During this same time frame, we have seen annual appreciation in the area of roughly 5 percent. This means that homeowners often have access to equity in their homes. This can be used to consolidate other types of higher interest debt or be used to renovate and improve their home.”

Ben is located at 3668 Westover Road in Westover. He has lived there for two years now and is in the process of moving his office there as well.

Frankie Osborn is a community columnist for the Westover area.