A foreclosure is a last resort for a homeowner in trouble, and a foreclosure stays on a credit report for seven years. But that doesn’t mean homeowners who file for foreclosure will never be homeowners again.

“After two years, you can probably get a home,” LendingTree chief economist Tendayi Kapfidze told WTOP. “You will pay extra in the interest rate, but we see after about five years there is no premium paid for having been in foreclosure if you have managed the rest of your credit well.”

Foreclosure does mean an instant and sizable hit to a borrower’s credit score.

“We have seen impacts of about 150 points on a credit score. For some borrowers, it is less than that,” Kapfidze said.

“Typically, you start to see the credit score recover within less than a year after the foreclosure.”

Credit scores increase, on average, about 10 points per year after a foreclosure.