Paying yourself "rent" when house hacking

[Tina Opel]

I am house hacking a duplex and have been planning on paying my business the same amount of "rent" that any other tenant would be required to pay but I just thought of it that doing so might not be the best idea. My main thought behind doing so was that I could build up a reserve quicker to be able to buy a second property since I can't spend it on personal expenses, but if I do this will that increase my "rental income" and make it harder for me to claim a loss on the property. If it will then I'm probably better off saving up for my second property outside of my "business" so that I can claim a greater loss but still set aside for future purchases. In all of my research I haven't ever heard that legally you have to pay yourself rent and count it as income but I don't want to unknowingly do anything illegal and then have to pay for it later. Is there a best way of handling this? Your advice is greatly appreciated!