Should I be looking for a V-Drive config or an Inboard/Outdrive(stern
drive) setup?

NP

If you wind up buying at the upper end of your size range, most of the choices
will be either V drives or straight inboards.

At the 31-foot range, you will find some I/O choices to consider.

There is no always right answer for every boater. For my taste, V-drives are a
better choice than outdrives, and straight inboards are the best bet of all.
Many hull and superstructure configurations require the engines to be set well
aft- and in those cases a straight inboard does suffer some problems that a
V-drive boat does not.
Boats that try to use a straight inboard with the engines set well aft usually
wind up with big prop pockets- (the shaft angle would need to be too steep for
the very short run to provide clearance between the blade tips and the natural
hull shape).

Prop pockets reduce flotation at the transom, and make it harder to get the bow
down properly when accelerating to speed, (and in some makes and models even
when supposedly on plane). Prop pockets funnel drift right into the props. Get
a chunk of wood into that tunnel and there is *no* chance it will miss the
prop.

A v-drive allows a better shaft angle when the engine must be set under the
cockpit.
In many cases, the final drive shaft is about the same as it would be in an
inboard, but the engine is out of the way rather than taking up another 5 or 6
feet of
cabin space below decks.

Outdrives have the advantage of moving the engine all the way to the transom,
and freeing up more space in the hull. Disadvantages are maintenance related.
Outdrives can be very expensive indeed,
often requiring "rebuilds" like an engine.
A standard inboard transmission is a very simple device. I replaced the
original inboard tranny on my boat at about the 20-year mark. No way would most
people expect to get that kind of service from an outdrive.

One disadvantage of an outdrive is the fact that your transmission is dangling
in the water behind the boat. Hitting a log with an outdrive can be far more
more serious than
just hammering out a dinged prop.