Ready to be a homeowner

[N/A N/A]

My wife and I have been renting a house for the past nine months. The landlord bought the house new in 2005, lived in it a few months and due to a job transfer needed to rent it out. Now the landlord has moved back to town and has purchased a house on the opposite side of the city with no intention of wanting to continue to own this house. We have communicated with him. He is ready to sell the house we are renting to us. He has given us an asking price. My question, as a method of getting the asking price lowered, would it be prudent to ask for a credit of our rental payments toward the asking price of the house? No, our rental contract did not include rental credits if we were to purchase. Your opinion is appreciated.