In your situation, I don't think I'd try to make all the arrangements via
email before I made the move to the Best Coast.

If you've got contacts here already, why not see if you can crash with someone while you learn the city and its culture. That would give you the chance to better check the
liveaboard situation out first-hand, as well as actually be aboard the
boats you're considering.
Trust me, it's
always a buyer's market when it comes to boats, and the
current economic facts of life only enhance that. If you're a serious buyer (which is to say, have the
money in hand) you're in a perfect position to grind out a good deal. You can probably even use your advantage as a buyer-able-to-perform to force a desperate seller to find you a solution to the
liveaboard problem.
LA's a great place, but it's different from, well, any other in lots of ways. It takes time to adjust to, even if it's just to learn the rhythm of the freeways and where everything is. Some people never make the adjustment and
head back to their comfortable former lives quickly.
If you have the backbone and thick skin you'll need to make a career in the music biz, there won't be much that you'll let stand in your way in the rest of your life. Good luck to you.
TaoJones