You definitely are taking the right precautions. Just tell prospective guests you must have full information before you will confirm. Never accept any booking that says “travel dates flexible”. Get firm dates. Of course those of you who rent out whole apartments to groups are asking for trouble one way or another. Group of six? Who is going to oversee them? Is the money you get going to compensate you for trouble (dirt, theft, etc.). If so, then that’s your decision.I am glad I don’t have to deal with more than one couple, on our own premises. You also should get details of where they work, or what kind of work they do if they are self employed, as well as the purpose of the trip and firm dates. Be very cautious with this large group.
You are such a genius 
I’m going to borrow much of what you just wrote and copy/paste it to send as answers to guests if you don’t mind
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Argh, guest management. Probably my least favorite part when dealing with my rental property and a big reason why I don’t do it anymore. I was in a similar situation with my listings on HomeAway and VRBO. I was getting requests but none were worthy enough to accept, mostly guests just not fully reading the listing info online, and were basically just wasting my time. That’s when I realized I should probably let someone else handle it for me and went out and found a property management company specifically for short-term vacation rentals. They have 24/7 guest support and do a way better job at filling out my calendar than I did slaving away at it. It honestly has been a big stress reliever and has helped my bottom line too. I can’t recommend it to people enough. My property management company not only has 24/7 booking, listing, and guest support but they also take care of check-ins/outs, cleaning, and everything else so that my property is completely hassle free. It’s really nice not having to go back and forth with guests anymore about booking my property.
Oh-oh…I smell a vendor promo.
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