John,
Go to
www.truckpaper.com and look over the volvo's listed there. Like I said the most popular is the 610 since it's less than 11' tall. Most 5ers are about 12' or more anyhow so to me it was a wash.
Look for the term "autoshift" for the self shifting transmission. Sometimes they don't list it on the heading so you'll have to read the newer adds to make sure you don't miss one. They are out there so don't get discouraged about it right off the bat if you don't see one close by. I looked for a few months and ended up getting a 660 autoshift in my own state just up the road.
As far as the residency issues are concerned SD is a good bet. If you do want to go the motorhome route they do not recognize the conversions any more. Montana does. The conversion is fairly easy and it is cheap to insure and register in Montana.