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Health & Fitness

Introducing Oak Forest's Own 'Money Man'

Welcome to my first post to Oak Forest Patch. As an 18 year veteran of the mortgage business I am going to share mortgage and credit-related information with you.

My name is John Barker and I am a lifelong resident of .  In fact, except for going away to college and about 8 months I lived in the frozen tundra called Minnesota, I have lived in Oak Forest since I was born and I am currently living in the home I grew up in as a child.  I enjoy everything Oak Forest has to offer my family: good schools, nice parks, and and other youth organizations.  I attended where my mother was a teacher for over 30 years. I attended Marist High School in Chicago and then earned a degree in Business Administration/Marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As a child I was involved in several local sports organizations like the football, Oak Forest Warriors wrestling, Oak Forest Baseball, St Damian  basketball as well as other local organizations.  I continue to be involved
in the local youth groups as a coach.  I have coached the Raiders for the past 11 years, Warriors for 12 years, Oak Forest Baseball for 4 years, and Oak Forest Softball for 8 years—I even helped out with my youngest daughter’s soccer team last year.

I am married to my wife, Joy, for the past 11 years and have 4 children: Katie Randolph (20 years old), Abby (10 years old), Patrick (8 years old), and Jackie (6 years old). Oh, yeah, we have a dog, too. A pug named Pugsley—but I am willing to give him to a good home.  Just kidding, my kids would kill me.

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Professionally, I have been in the mortgage business for the past 18 years.  I have helped hundreds of families achieve the American dream of homeownership and have helped countless others improve their financial situation through refinancing.  I enjoy educating my customers and helping them understand the mortgage process which seems to be confusing and daunting to most people.

As part of that education process I started blogging on mortgages and mortgage-related topics over 5 years ago.  I have written articles on current trends and
news in the mortgage industry, mortgage-related topics such as: Why do I have 3
Different Credit Scores or getting a free copy of your credit report.  I also have taken questions I hear repeatedly from customers or real estate professionals and answer them for everyone to read.

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My goal is to explain the topics in a way that everyone can understand them and use that information to make the best decisions for themselves.  I also hope to make more people comfortable and confident when purchasing a home or refinancing their mortgage.

My main blog can be found at www.BarkerBlog.com and my work website is
www.BarkerLoans.com

If you have any questions I can be reached at 708.473.7688 or BarkerLoans@gmail.com

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