What kind of letter should I send...

[Shannon X.]

First off, I couldn't find my other post that related to this, so here I am asking.

Long story short: House next door is vacant, it does not seem to be banked owned as their are no notices about anything (however they may have been blown away). I have found the owners new address and would like to ask him if we can purchase the house (if he still owns it). How should I go about this? What should I say and should I just type it in MS Word or have it hand written? I also wanted to somehow tell the owner if he does not want to sell then too at least get the fence fixed as its all coming down.

Thanks