Question
if am going away and selling my entire house to the non-jew can i do the mitzvah of bedikas chametz with just checking my car? can i say a bracha on that?
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom
Firstly, according to Rav Shlomo Aviner there is no need to sell the house, it is enough when you sell your chametz, to have in mind to sell whatever crumbs you may have in your home too . There are also some opinions that say selling the house or renting it to a gentile within 30 days before Pessach doesn’t exempt the owner from Bedika. (מג"א סי' תל"ו :יז).
However it is best to set aside one room in the house to do a bedikat chametz there in order not to lose the mitzvah. According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Oirbach zt"l one should not make a beracha when doing a bedikat chametz on the car alone because the original ordinance was to check a house and a car is considered a utensil.(הליכות שלמה ,ניסן עמ' קיא). However, according to Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul zt"l , when doing a bedikat chametz on the car alone, one may make a Bracha on checking the car. (אור לציון ג, פרק ז, סי' ט, יט)
Chag Kasher ve'Sameach.
