When a Reston home goes on the market, the seller orders a resale disclosure package from Reston Association through WelcomeLink. Only the seller or the seller's authorized agent can order it. It includes a resale certificate with a financial statement for that property, the results of an exterior inspection, the governing documents, the current operating and capital budget, minutes from a recent Board meeting, and the reserve study. RA releases it within 14 days of the request, and there is no way to speed that up.
Most buyers flip to the assessment line, see a modest annual figure and move on. For 2027 that figure is $900 per property. RA's October 8 board packet carries a five-year staff forecast that puts it at $954 in 2028 and $1,087 by 2031.
The package is a snapshot taken at a particular moment
Several details in RA's resale rules depend on timing. Resale certificates are valid in the year they are ordered. If settlement happens more than 90 days after the package is released, the resale inspection is no longer valid. A package ordered this November is a 2026 document. The board has already set the 2027 assessment, and it is due March 1, 2027.
The inspection matters as much as the money. RA staff review the full exterior of the home and list any use, maintenance and design violations they see. A seller can fix them and send photos of the finished work, or submit a Design Review Board application if one is needed, and work toward a close letter. Open violations do not stop the title from transferring. If they are still unresolved at settlement, they become the buyer's responsibility.
Many homes need a second package. Reston has more than 200 sub-neighborhood associations, according to RA's cluster and condo directory, revised October 1, 2026. RA describes each cluster or condominium as an independent entity with its own governing documents, board, rules, assessments and services. It also notes that most detached homes are not in clusters. For a home that is in one, the seller orders that association's disclosure separately. RA's package covers RA only.
Virginia law sets the general rules. Under Va. Code § 55.1-2309, the seller or the seller's agent gets the certificate and delivers it, and the association has 14 days from a written request to produce it. Va. Code § 55.1-2316 allows associations to charge fees for preparation, delivery, inspection and post-closing work. It assigns the preparation and inspection fees to the seller and requires associations to publish their fee schedules. RA's buyer guide says the buyer pays a one-time post-closing fee, a one-time transfer fee, and the annual assessment prorated for the rest of the year.
How 2027 came in at $10
The RA Board of Directors adopted the 2027 budget on October 22. That puts the assessment at $900, up from $890 in 2026, which RA calls a 1% increase. As FFXnow reported, the vote came earlier than in past years, when the budget was usually adopted in November.
Two things kept the increase small. The first was more than $550,000 in operating savings. FFXnow listed the cuts: the chief operating officer position was eliminated, the Activities Guide went mostly digital, and spending on technology and seasonal staff came down. RA puts the savings from the digital guide alone at about $100,000 a year in printing and postage.
The second was about $400,000 in offsets: investment earnings, projects that came in under budget, canceled projects, and contributions from the Friends of Reston for the Walker Nature Center and RA's trail maintenance program. RA says these offsets reduced the assessment by about $18 per household. The October 8 budget packet sets the figure at $397,000 and lowers the 2027 capital contribution target to $3.15 million, rising to $3.75 million in 2029.
Savings from the cuts can carry into future years. Offsets have to be found again every year. The packet's forecast shows them shrinking.
What RA's forecast shows next
Starting last year, RA staff have built a notional five-year forecast of the budget and capital reserve. This is the version in the October 8, 2026 packet, which shows the 2027 draft budget at $900, the same figure the board later adopted.
| Year | Assessment per property | Increase | Capital offsets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 actual | $848 | 3.8% | $808K |
| 2026 budget | $890 | 5.0% | $692K |
| 2027 | $900 | 1.1% | $397K |
| 2028 forecast | $954 | 6.0% | $300K |
| 2029 forecast | $1,000 | 4.8% | $300K |
| 2030 forecast | $1,050 | 5.0% | none |
| 2031 forecast | $1,087 | 3.6% | none |
The forecast assumes operating expenses rise 4% a year and that about $300,000 a year comes back from investment earnings and canceled or under-budget capital projects. Staff wrote that "conditions will change" and that they hope to find more savings and offsets. None of the years after 2027 is a rate the board has adopted. They are RA's own planning numbers.
Even so, the shape is clear. In this forecast, 2027 has the smallest increase of any year from 2025 through 2031. The 2027 figure works out to $75 a month. The 2031 forecast works out to roughly $91 a month, about 21% above the 2027 assessment. A buyer comparing Reston's carrying costs with another Northern Virginia neighborhood gets a truer number from the slope of the forecast than from the $900 on the certificate.
Where the capital money is scheduled to go
The forecast climbs because the capital plan does. The board approved a 2027–2036 Capital Improvement Plan on October 8. Here is how its projects fall by year, using the packet and FFXnow's coverage:
- 2027: a new splash pad at Uplands Pool, a renovation of the Lake Newport tennis courts, and the last year of a three-year project to standardize and upgrade trail markers and signage. The Lake Newport courts will become tennis-only, with no pickleball, and the renovation adds new lighting at the court entrances and repaves the paths. The operating budget also includes $7,500 for a study of lake sediment, meant to understand how it relates to seasonal algae.
- 2028: dredging at Hickory Pond Cluster, Bright Pond and Butler Pond, $484,500 in total. The Lake Newport gazebo replacement stays on the schedule for this year.
- 2029: Lake Audubon is scheduled for dredging. The plan also holds a placeholder for "RA Office Improvements" until RA decides on the lease for its headquarters at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive.
- 2030: Lake Anne is scheduled for dredging. Together with Lake Audubon, that comes to about $2.7 million. RA's office lease expires at the end of July 2030.
- 2031: possible replacement of the lighting around Lake Anne. RA CEO Peter Lusk told FFXnow that replacement parts for the aging lights "can be hard to find" and that no changes are planned before the date in the CIP.
The 2027 projects are small. The dredging years are the expensive ones, and they fall in 2028 through 2030, the same years the forecast assessment rises fastest. The two schedules line up because the capital contribution has to grow to pay for that work.
What this means on either side of the deal
For a seller planning a spring 2027 listing, ordering the RA package early has a practical benefit. The 14-day turnaround and the exterior inspection leave time to fix any listed violations and get a close letter before buyers ask about them. RA itself recommends ordering as soon as you prepare to list. The sellers' guide covers the rest of the prep timeline.
For a buyer, the package already includes the documents that show where the assessment is headed, namely the current budget and the reserve study. A home in a cluster or condominium adds a second set of assessments with its own budget. Reading both sets together gives a fuller monthly figure than the RA line alone. Our Reston neighborhood page and the buyers' guide put those costs alongside everything else on a purchase.
This post is general information about RA's published budget and Virginia's resale rules. It is not legal or financial advice, so please confirm the specifics of your own contract with your attorney or settlement professional.
A few questions buyers ask
Is the $1,000 assessment for 2029 decided? No. The board adopted only the 2027 rate. The figures for later years come from a notional staff forecast in the October 8 packet, and RA's staff expect conditions to change.
Does the 2027 budget pay for lake dredging? The 2027 budget pays for a $7,500 sediment study. The dredging is scheduled to start in 2028.
If the seller leaves a violation unresolved, who handles it? Under RA's resale guide, unresolved violations become the buyer's responsibility after settlement.
When is the 2027 assessment due? March 1, 2027. RA said in its October 22 announcement that invoices would be mailed in the coming weeks.
If you're weighing a Reston home or getting ready to list one, The Velvel Group can go through the RA package, the cluster documents and the forecast with you before any deadline hits. Schedule a consultation and bring the paperwork.
