99 Explorer Sport not a lot of heat

[newbie70]

Hello,
I am new to this posting stuff. I hope someone can help me. I just purchased this vehicle and it has 124,000 miles on it already. Got it very inexpensively. I'm wondering if there is something really wrong and that's why I got it so cheap. I drove around for over 30 minutes and there is very little heat coming out. The A/C works fine, but now that it's getting cold, I need the heat and there isn't much. What could it possibly be? Also, my emergency brake is very, very tight to press down. And, the light doesn't come on telling me that it's on. Does anyone know what that could be? It works, but I've never felt one that difficult to engage. And then, there is the usual. My check engine light comes on and then goes off after a while. Reading other posts, that seems to be an almost normal thing with these vehicles.

Thank You!

Year/Make/Model: 1999 FORD EXPLORER
Body Style: 2 DR WAGON SPORT UTILITY
Engine: 4.0L V6 EFI SOHC
Fuel: GASOLINE
Driveline: 4 WHEEL DRIVE