Last winter Boston took nineteen inches in a single twenty-four hour stretch in late January and another fifteen inches in February. Schools closed for two consecutive days in February because crews needed the extra day to widen main roads for the seven-hundred-bus fleet. That is not an unusual winter here. That is a normal one.

If you are moving to Boston, or buying your first property here after renting, there are about six ways this city will take money from you between December and March. None of them are secrets. All of them are things people learn the expensive way.

One: your car will get towed, and it will be your fault

When the city declares a snow emergency, a parking ban takes effect and every vehicle parked on a posted snow emergency artery gets towed so crews can clear the road. Not ticketed. Towed. You will find your car by calling the Boston Police tow line at 617-343-4629 or searching the city's towing database, and you will pay the tow plus storage plus the ticket.

The city offers discounted and free garage parking to residents with a resident sticker during emergencies. Parking opens two hours before the emergency is declared and you must remove your vehicle within two hours of the ban lifting or you get charged the standard rate. That window is narrow and people miss the back end of it constantly, then wonder why a free garage cost them sixty dollars.

Two practical things. Know before you buy whether your street is a posted snow emergency artery, because if it is, and the property has no off-street parking, you are relocating your car several times a winter on short notice. And sign up for AlertBoston notifications, because the declaration is the only warning you get.

Two: the space saver rules are real, and they are not the same everywhere

Here is the actual rule. You may only use a space saver when the city has declared a snow emergency. You have forty-eight hours after the emergency ends to keep it out. After that Public Works can collect and discard it, and they do.

Space savers are banned at all times in the South End and Bay Village. Not restricted. Banned. If you are buying in either neighborhood and you have been picturing yourself digging out a spot and holding it with a lawn chair, that is not available to you.

And the part the city does not print: drivers who have taken a saved space in Boston, including well after the forty-eight hours expired and the saver became legally meaningless, have had their cars threatened and vandalized. The rule is on your side. Your neighbor may not be. Factor that into how much you actually want a property with no dedicated parking.

Three: ice dams, and the properties that get them

An ice dam forms when heat escapes into the attic, melts the underside of the snowpack, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eave. Water then backs up under the shingles and comes through your ceiling. The damage is interior, it is expensive, and it happens in February when every roofer in the city is booked.

The properties that get them in Boston are predictable. Older houses with poor attic insulation and no ventilation. Any house where a previous owner finished the attic without addressing the roof deck. Triple-deckers with flat or low-slope roofs and clogged internal drains. Additions and dormers, because the roofline transition is where they start.

What to do about it before you buy: get in the attic during the inspection. Look for insulation depth, ventilation at the soffits and ridge, and staining on the underside of the roof deck. Staining means it has already happened. Ask the seller directly whether the property has ever had an ice dam and get the answer in writing.

Four: oil heat, and what it actually means

Plenty of Boston-area housing still runs on oil, particularly in Dorchester, Hyde Park, Roslindale, and older MetroWest housing stock. If you have only ever paid a gas bill, understand what changes.

You are buying fuel in bulk at market price, which means your winter cost is volatile in a way a gas bill is not. You need a delivery contract, and in a cold snap the whole region calls at once. You have a tank, and tanks have finite lives. If the tank is in the basement and it is old, ask about it. If there is any indication of a buried tank in the yard, stop and get a professional opinion, because buried tanks carry environmental exposure that is not a repair item, it is a liability.

Conversion to gas is possible where a gas line exists in the street, and it is not cheap. Get a real number before you assume it away.

Five: frozen pipes, and the specific units at risk

Two categories of Boston property freeze. Garden-level and basement units with plumbing running along an uninsulated exterior wall. And any unit that sits empty during a cold stretch, which includes the property you just bought and have not moved into yet.

That second one is the one that gets people. There is a gap between closing and moving, or between an inherited house becoming empty and being listed, and that is when the pipe bursts. Also know that a standard homeowner's policy behaves differently on a vacant property, and many policies restrict coverage once a home has been unoccupied past a stated period, often thirty or sixty days. Call the carrier, tell them the truth about occupancy, and get the endorsement.

If you own a condo, know your association's rule on minimum heat setting when owners travel. Then actually follow it, because a burst pipe in your unit that damages three units below you is a conversation you do not want to have.

Six: the sidewalk is your problem

Boston requires property owners to clear the sidewalk abutting their property, and there are fines for not doing it. If you are buying a corner property, you have two sidewalks. If you are buying a triple-decker and planning to rent units out, clarify in writing who shovels, because "the tenants will handle it" is not a plan and the citation comes to you.

This is a real consideration for anyone buying while living elsewhere, or for out-of-state owners of Boston rental property. Line up a service in October, not during the first storm when nobody is answering the phone.

The questions to ask before you commit

• Is this street a posted snow emergency artery?
• Where does the car go during a parking ban, and what does that cost?
• Has this property ever had an ice dam or a frozen pipe? Get it in writing.
• What is the attic insulation and ventilation situation?
• Oil or gas, and if oil, how old is the tank and where is it?
• For condos: who is responsible for snow removal, what does the fee cover, and what is the minimum heat rule?
• For a property that will sit empty between closing and move-in, what does my insurance actually cover?

None of this should stop you from buying here. It should change which property you buy. The difference between a Boston property that costs you nothing in February and one that costs you eleven thousand dollars is mostly visible in October, if somebody knows where to look.