Everyone knows that finding a roomate for an apartment can be a daunting task. You spend hours looking through advertisements in the paper and on Craigslist, thumbing through Facebook profiles, and exploring the city for potential candidates. But what if you could find your roommates the same way you find your potential dates?

Enter spareroom.com, a website that hosts "speed roommating," which is just like speed dating, but without the romance. With its first event in New York, these events are designed to match up potential roommates so that they can talk about important living issues before moving in together.

"People just can't afford to live how they used to, I find myself in the same position. The money's not like it was," said one potential roommate to ABC News New York station WABC. "Everything is so exorbitant now. I mean, just the price to feed yourself today is ridiculous" Clinton Flanagan explained.

"That's the best part about it. Here you are meeting a bunch of people and you get to pick and choose. And if you don't like the person, you know right away," said Sandeep Chandur, looking for a roommate.

Spareroom.com's director Matt Hutchinson's hope is that this first event in New York takes off like past events have in the UK. Last year in London, nearly 11,000 people showed up for speed roommating events.

"We've had people turn up from Australia, off the flight at Heathrow, straight to the event, suitcase piled high in the corner just needing some place to live. It's the first stop for some people," Hutchinson said.

But the question remains, can there really be 'live' at first sight?