BiggerPockets

Most lenders charge "points", not just hard money lenders. A "point" is 1% of the loan. A typical "origination fee" for a conventional loan is 1%. You may also pay "discount points" which are basically interest you pay up front to get a lower rate. A hard money lender may charge you more than one point. Exactly how many and the rate varies widely. I say a post here within the last day or two mention 8 points and 18%. Seems very high to me.

The points are considered interest. Its money out of your pocket. The APR quoted as part of the loan disclosure includes both the interest paid in the form of points and the interest that's included with your payment.

Yes, that's correct. The interest rate is usually an annual rate, though, unless someone's trying to be really tricky. So the $1000 in interest would be for a year. Might be due monthly, quarterly, or when the loan is paid off. Hard money loans are short term, six months, maybe a year.

When choosing a lender for fix and flip properties the most important number is the points. If you are planning on having the property for 6 months or less the points is all that really matters (assuming the interest isn't ridiculous - 20%+)