Hello!> sorry for the late Reply but i am new to the Forums,
as far as hiring from neck of the woods or any studio in general, the portfolio has to represent the specialty you are looking for, in this case architecture.
i saw your vintage image and although it has all the right elements the cropping hurts the image more than it should, try to show the space as a whole, don't get carried away with all the little details but work your camera to show space in relationship to everything that is in the room. The same can be said with exteriors, try and get inspire but some of the work on the gallery and see how they treat those spaces, see how they place the camera, lighting etc.
although your cars are really good models i wouldn't send those to an visualization studio, mostly due to the fact that that is not the skill set they are looking for, among the things they want, is someone who can read an Autocad plan and take it all the way to execution and represent their vision, from material, lighting, etc. although some studios might be more specialize than others you should always be ready to deliver the best representation of a space, not just in realism but accuracy of the model, surrounding and interaction with the environment, in other words deliver a project from beginning to end while keeping the standards .
residential work is just one aspect of visualization, there are many to choose from and i suggest trying to show the best representation out of the ones you feel comfortable with, and yes you need to focus on quality if you can delivery a good visualization out of one you should be able to be consistent and deliver the next one at the same quality if not better!> it will make it easier to hire someone like you and it will give you flexibility to work for different people, i would simplify the portfolio and only keep content related to the studio you are applying to. look up any of what big studios are pumping out and follow those standards and body of work so you can be a better match and be easier to hire overall,
best
Angel