“It was bittersweet to hear we were leaving,” said Mrs. Powell, 44. “It was really good for our family. We got to discover and experience a different culture.”
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But they quickly embraced the move to Texas, their home state.
Ms. 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 Great Britain and then to Morristown, NJ. In 2017, the couple was back in Dallas, where their daughters, Charlotte and Olivia, were born.
As they packed up their apartment in Liechtenstein, they started thinking about where in the Dallas area they wanted to live this time. “I kept saying, I don’t want to touch my neighbors,” Ms. Powell said. “I want some space out there.”
“We wanted a space that was open enough for them where they could stay with us rather than in a hotel,” Ms Powell said.
She also wanted a spacious kitchen with an island big enough for “at least three or four people.” The biggest must-have, however, was a top-ranked public school district with a pre-K program.
For advice, the couple contacted Lauren Moore, a Dallas-based Compass real estate agent. 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 renovations, the couple set a budget of up to $1.3 million. After scouting the area online, they focused on the towns of Fairview and Lucas. The goal was to buy a house before returning to the United States last spring so Ms. Moore could FaceTime from homes the couple found online.
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