Buying first house from current landlord?

[Aaron Snyder]

First ever post here on BP. Im 27 years old and have been renting on my own the past 2.5 years. My lease is up end of September and need to make a decision. Would love to purchase my current apartment from my landlord, but he never stated it was for sale. What is the best way to go about this? I plan on reaching out to him, but any tips on what to say, what not to say? Do I come forward with an offer first, or just plainly see if he's interested in selling? Any thing I can throw in there to sweeten up the deal, preferably something that's mutually beneficial? 

It's a one bedroom "apartment" that is actually just a really small standalone house. I was just was pre-approved for a loan, but have only around $8,000-$9,000 in cash. Pretty good neighborhood in town...property is in good shape, but definitely needs new windows and could probably use a kitchen & bathroom update. Also has an ongoing bug problem (ants, centipedes...I've managed to get it somewhat under control). Would it help my case to point out some of this work that needs to be done? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Would ideally like to live here for another year max, fix it up a little, then rent it out.