Start with the source of truth
A listing may arrive in a spreadsheet, an approved partner feed or an agency system. Before automating imports, decide which source owns each field. The agency system might own availability while your website owns editorial descriptions. Writing these rules down prevents one update from silently overwriting another.
Design the import around a stable identifier
Give every property a durable source identifier. Match updates by that identifier rather than an address that someone might spell differently. Validate price, currency, location, status and image references before publishing. Put incomplete records in a review queue with an explanation of what needs fixing.
Make changes visible and reversible
A useful import distinguishes new listings, changed listings and withdrawn listings. Record the last successful import and a summary of changes. Decide explicitly what happens when a property disappears from a feed; temporary feed failures should not unpublish your entire catalogue. Keep the previous values so a mistaken update can be investigated.
Pilot one feed first
Start with a small approved sample and compare the imported records with the original. Test duplicates, missing images, changed prices and withdrawn properties. Then schedule the import and alert the responsible person when it fails. Track the time spent correcting listings as well as the time saved entering them. The aim is a reliable publishing process your team can understand.