Adam and Amanda Powell loved living in Liechtenstein, Europe’s fourth-smallest country. The American couple, who work for Hilti, a Liechtenstein-based power-tool company, spent three years in a modern, four-bedroom apartment in the city of Schaan with their two young daughters. But last winter, they were told that their work visas could not be renewed and that they were being relocated to Hilti’s North American headquarters just outside of Dallas.
“It was bittersweet to learn that we were leaving,” said Mrs. Powell, 44. “It was really good for our nuclear family. We explored and experienced a different culture.”
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But they quickly embraced the move to Texas, their home state.
Mrs. Powell was born and raised in Austin, about three hours south of the Dallas area, where Mr. Powell, 45, grew up. After meeting at Abilene Christian University, the couple married in 2005 and moved to a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth. Six years later, work took them to Britain, and then to Morristown, N.J. By 2017, the couple were back in Dallas, where their daughters, Charlotte and Olivia, were born.
While they packed up their apartment in Liechtenstein, they began considering where in the Dallas area they wanted to live this time. “I kept saying, I don’t want to touch my neighbors,” Mrs. Powell said. “I want some space out there.”
So they looked to the city’s sprawling suburbs for a home large enough to accommodate both sets of grandparents, who live in Texas, as well as extended family members.
“We wanted a space that was open enough for them where they could stay with us instead of in a hotel,” Mrs. Powell said.
She also wanted a spacious kitchen with an island large enough for “at least three or four people.” The biggest must-have, though, was a high-ranking public school district with a pre-K program.
For guidance, the couple contacted Lauren Moore, a Dallas-based Compass broker. She suggested Collin County, an area about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas with a top-rated public school district.
To afford a home in Collin County that met their criteria and required minimal renovation, the couple set a budget of up to $1.3 million. After exploring the area online, they focused on the towns of Fairview and Lucas. The goal was to buy a house before they returned to the United States last spring, so Ms. Moore would FaceTime from homes the couple found online.
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