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Bridget Eastgaard and her husband saved $375 a month simply by asking.

“Will you lower our rent?” they asked their landlord, who agreed to the couple’s request.

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Renters throughout the city are asking that same question, and many are finding steep discounts as Calgary’s residential vacancy rate is forecast to reach its highest level in more than 25 years.

It’s a massive swing for a rental market that was the tightest in Canada just two years ago, when Mayor Naheed Nenshi made a public plea urging landlords to stop “gouging” tenants.

Today, however, as Alberta grapples with continuing economic gloom, Calgary landlords are finding it necessary to offer incentives to attract new tenants and do whatever it takes to keep their rental properties occupied — including reducing rent for existing tenants.

“It’s definitely a 180 (degree turn) in the market here. It’s really changed,” said Mark Hawkins, who owns the rental listing website RentFaster.ca.