Jenn,
What makes the difference in number of video shops in two party states is the willingness of clients to have all of their staff sign consent forms. I live in MD and do a ton of video shops in MD, PA and DE, all of which are two party states. Home builders and rental management companies, as well as mortgage lenders, are particularly likely to have their employees sign consent forms because the federal, local and state penalties that the employer can be liable for if the employees violate fair housing or lending rules, for instance, are truely enormous. Since that is true in every state, any state that has a lot of new home building and any area that has a lot of apartment buildings are both likely to produce a lot of video and/or audio recorded shops. I often get requests to travel to your home area (from Maryland!) to do video shops. So it may be that there is a shortage of v-shoppers there. The problems arise when it comes to rotation. ecause the v-shops tend to be 30-120 minutes of interaction with one target, the shopper is especially memorable. In addition, the receptionist and other on-site personnel may remember the shopper. So, some builders have rotations of from 2 years to eternity at some sites. AND, their best sales associates often move from one subdivision to another as they sell out one and open another. So, you will be permanently barred from repeating the same target. If housing starts are particularly low in your area, that might limit your local jobs in new homes. But you still have rentals, where the rotations run from 12 to 18 months (except for a tiny minority which are "forever.) And rentals, because the average shop is only about 30 minutes, can be stacked 4-6 or more in a day, with good planning. (Some will tell you that 30 minutes is a low estimate, but mine run from 12 to about 50 minutes, with many at or below 30 minutes. Many rental agents just don't do the job and you don't have to hang around hoping that they might do it, lol.)
Finally, the possibilites for using video to support your travel habit are practicaly endless. Because of rotations rules, there is a perpetualy demand for "outside" shoppers to hit new territory. Add in a few hotel shops, or using some of your hotel rewards points to subsidize the (not always generous!) travel bonuses for video routes, and use the right credit cards to double or triple the points earned at hotels, restaurants, etc., and get on the road!
Road warriors need at least two complete video rigs with extended batteries, [plus a third camera ,the camera wiring being the weakest link in the equipment] because the rigs take forever to charge. (Car chargers are not practical.) You will also need a laptop or netbook with both USB and SD card slots, a digital audio recorder, a large cooler, a non-phone hi-resolution camera, a hands-free phone kit, a GPS (Garmon preferred, by far), extra 4 and 8 gb SD cards (full size), padded mailing envelopes (for shipping SC cards when uploads from hotels fail), and a road kit with items like laundry detergent (the little bubble packs are ideal), cork screw, plastic cutlery, seasonings and condiment packets from FF joints, insulated beverage cups/glasses, and a first aid kit. Many of us also take a pillow from home and spare power supply for the laptop. . [I can pack for a three week overseas trip (non-video) in a roll-aboard bag and a purse. A one week video road trip fills up my trunk!]
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.