Building a duplex/triplex/4-plex from the ground up

[Jordan Coates]

Has anyone ever run the numbers for actually building a small multi-family property instead of buying one?  I've never looked into building a house myself, but it seems like it would be comparable to what it would cost to purchase one that was already built.  

For example: if you could design a duplex to be built in an economical manner on a piece of property that is priced reasonably, could you turn around and rent it out and still have $200-$500 cash flow on the property?

Thanks for the help!