I lost a 1000 deposit to a broker in 2008 near whilton locks because we stupidly paid it and our funds hadn't cleared in time - 1 week! The owner took the boat off the market.. I felt bitter at the time, but we subsequently found a boat at a brokers quite nearby that took a deposit fixed a few important things then took the rest. It was a stroke of luck. The second boat had dropped by £13k by the time our house sold, Steve lost about that on his house sale so we were quits, and we got a much better liveaboard for the mooring we had chosen.
Loved it and miss her.