Kyle Vonasek didn’t “get into” real estate the way most people mean it.
He grew up in it. He spent weekends inside old houses that needed work, learning renovation the slow way. He learned about cleaning first. Then he learned about painting next. And then, slowly, his father introduced him to bigger tasks as he proved he could handle them. On the side, he was the kid on the farm breaking go-karts, then getting voluntold to fix what he broke.
Now he’s 24, a newly full-time real estate agent, and a co-founder with
his brother of a real estate investment company that aims to deliver strong
returns for investors and bring worn-down properties back to life.
“I just turned 24,” Vonasek said. “And… Open Field Group is our company that we use to primarily invest in kind of run down multifamily properties using investor money to basically give them good returns while simultaneously bringing up the community. These aren’t the West Fargo and South Fargo apartment buildings that people are paying $1,800 a month for.”
He is buying buildings that are underperforming because they’re outdated, poorly maintained, or mismanaged. Then, he’s fixing what’s broken; making them safer and cleaner; improving the living experience; and raising the property to what it should’ve been all along.
That’s good for tenants. It’s good for neighborhoods. And if you underwrite it correctly, it can be good for investors, too.
Becoming An Official Business
Open Field Group became official in December, Vonasek said. But the real work started well before the paperwork.
“Officially about a month ago in December,” he said, “but we’ve been working on aspects of it for over a year… getting our legal crap together, what this would actually look like.”
That year included investing with their own money, refining how they evaluate deals, and mapping out a structure where they can bring in investors who want real estate exposure without becoming handson landlords.
“A lot of who we work with are people that own trusts that maybe just want to have a regular distribution… or W-2 income employees who want to diversify their portfolio or who want to invest in real estate but don’t want to dedicate the time and effort that it takes.”
So Open Field aims to be the operator for people who want the benefits like cash flow, tax advantages, and diversification, without a second job attached.
The Partner Story
Open Field Group is built with Vonasek’s brother as his primary partner. Their backgrounds rhyme, but the way they think about real estate comes from two different directions.
Kyle studied mechanical engineering. His brother studied civil engineering and works in Grand Forks on the kinds of projects that shape cities, like utilities, streets, and subdivisions.
“He works on new subdivisions for the city,” Vonasek said. “They see his name on drawings… road planning and sewer planning and utility plan… it kind of brings us to a very well-rounded group when we’re put together.”
Kyle frames their partnership like a checks-andbalances system. Same values, same ambition, but enough difference to keep each other honest
“We work together super awesome,” he said. “We’re kind of on the same page with a lot of things, but we also hold each other accountable.”
Not New To Renovation
Vonasek has been around renovation work most of his life, starting with basic tasks as a kid and taking on more as he got older.
“When I was really little, around five-ish, I’d work on like a weekend project,” he said. “I’d take the little vacuum and vacuum up all the dust along the trim edges.”
By around 12, he was painting. Electrical work came later, gradually, and never in a way that skipped safety
“There are different levels to electrical,” he said. “It was like, throw these outlet covers on… then connecting the wires… then maybe help run lines… very gradual… competency-based.”
By high school, it got more serious, but it wasn’t because he quit being a kid. He still played sports. He still spent plenty of time outside.
“I was on a farm,” he said. “Snowmobiling… go-karts… running around in the woods… hanging out with the dog and the farm cats.”
That farm life connects to another part of his story—he’s tied to Vonasek Farms, which primarily grows soybeans, wheat, and corn. They used to farm sugar beets too, until the risk stopped being worth it.
“With grain and corn, you can store it in bins and sell when the market makes sense,” he said. “With beets, you can’t… you have a narrow window in October.”
That is not a random tangent. It’s basically his investment worldview in farm terms. Risk isn’t just about the size of the number—it’s about what control you have when conditions change
It’s also why he talks about renovations the way he does. Open Field doesn’t need to be the crew swinging hammers on every job. But they do need to understand the work well enough to price it, manage it, and keep it from spiraling.
That background is for one estimating expenses and two for vetting contractors,” he said. “The biggest overrun that can happen is cost overruns with the renovations.”
Why Multi-Family
Open Field Group currently has a mix of four single-family properties connected to the group, and their first commercial multifamily property is a six-unit building.
The end goal, though, is to focus on multifamily because he sees it as a more stable investment.
“If you have a house and you’re going to rent it out, it’s very dependent on vacancy,” he said. “With multifamily, if you have one person vacant, your vacancy rate is much lower. It’s a safer investment overall.”
“Open”
The company name matters to him for a reason.
“With Open Field Group, what we focus on is transparency,” he said. “That’s the point. Open means transparent. A lot of companies aren’t.”
His definition of transparency isn’t marketing. It’s the unglamorous responsibility side of handling other people’s money.
“If someone has risk, tell them upfront,” he said. “Don’t come back five years later and say they’re liable for a massive amount of money.”
That mindset carries into his work as an agent. Clients don’t just want a door opened, they want to understand what’s happening.
“A big part of it is protecting the client and giving them the most information, efficiently,” he said. “People don’t always realize they can renegotiate after an inspection… they’ll assume they have to eat a big cost, and that’s not always true.”
Engineering Years
Vonasek doesn’t trash engineering. He credits it for sharpening how he thinks. But his path through engineering reads like someone who was always calibrating toward a bigger plan
He interned at Crystal Sugar the summer after freshman year, doing hands-on inspection work—grinding soot and paint off pipes, using ultrasonic tools to measure thickness, and documenting wear.
If the measurement falls too far, you replace the pipe. If you don’t, there are consequences.
“It happened in boilers,” he said. “Those pipes would blow sometimes. When that happens, they have to shut everything down, and that’s a major loss.”
Later, he took a semester off to do a co-op with Collins Aerospace—an eight-month stretch that helped him decide he could do engineering after all.
“That first semester was really tough,” he said. “I wasn’t sure I could even do engineering. So I took the co-op.”
He worked full-time in Jamestown, then stayed on part-time during school, and eventually took a full-time role after graduation, doing mechanical design for cargo systems on Boeing and Airbus freighters.
At the Jamestown site, the design work was some of the most demanding you can do in North Dakota. Everything is weight-sensitive and safetycritical; every part goes through iterations with stress teams and test teams. The company breaks things on purpose so you can redesign them right.
“It’s cool because you have a team of 15 to 20 people designing, and the rest of the company supports them,” he said. “And it’s difficult because you’re designing systems that have to handle huge loads.”
He’s proud of that. It’s also part of why he left.
By late 2025, he felt himself drifting.
“I wasn’t as into engineering day-to-day,” he said. “I don’t hate it… but I wanted to focus on real estate. And I didn’t want to halfdo engineering.”
There was also the isolation he experienced.
He worked from home and had less social interaction. Real estate gave him the opposite with constant conversation, negotiation, meetings, and relationships. That energy pulled him in until the decision wasn’t theoretical anymore.
“I’m young. I don’t have dependents,” he said. “Worst case, I can go back to engineering.”
Outside The Office
Vonasek talks about health the way he talks about investing. He believes things should be long-term, structured, and intentional.
He cooks nearly every day.
“Probably an hour a day,” he said. “Smaller, higher-quality meals… two or three meals out of each cook.”
He stays active with lifting, basketball, golf, and mountain biking. Fargo isn’t ideal for biking terrain, so he travels— Cuyuna, Brainerd, the Iron Range, Duluth. He even went to Arkansas last spring for better trails.
But really, he is about mountaineering.
In 2024, he climbed Mount Shasta in Northern California. It was a multi-day hike with snow, altitude, and fifty pounds on his back.
Preparation wasn’t optional.
“That’s why I like testing the limits of your body,” he said. “Preparation mattered. You’re running and biking to keep your heart rate up so it’s easier when you get there.”
This summer, he’s aiming for Mount Deception in Washington’s Olympic range with a friend who’s always chasing new summits.
Where Open Field Goes From Here
Open Field Group is early in its lifespan.
They’ve already moved from single-family roots into multifamily ownership, with more deals under review. They’re underwriting new opportunities. They’re learning, refining, and building a track record.
Vonasek is careful about public hype. He’s not trying to sell the idea before he can prove it.
But he is confident in the direction.
“I’m super optimistic for what’s to come for us and for the people that work with us,” he said. “Nothing but optimism.”
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