I feel like, at least for people dealing with some RL issues, there needs to be some sort of way to put a house demo on hold, even if it's paying $5 or something (one time only though).

Perhaps the timer should be tied to a veteran award kind of thing. The longer you've been playing(and thus paying for) the game, the longer the timer is for your house to be demo'd.

I will say, I feel like demo timers should be different based on house size. The more in demand houses should have shorter timers, simply because they are such a scarce resource compared to all the smalls. If you want that personal mansion, you better be active enough to keep it.