Couple other thoughts.....
Buy decent inner wires. Always thought they were the same until a cheapo pulled apart as I was braking towards an intersection. And I could not stop in time. I am here because at least one driver has good reflexes.
If you cut the outer cable, file or dremmel it smooth. There will always be a little bit of the metal coil that will remain, giving you rough brake operation.
Consider out housing in bulk. Needed red housing a few years back and no one had any in stock at the time. So I bought a roll. It was cheap enough that I figured if I got about four housing replacements from the roll, I would be ahead of buying precut. So now I can replace housing without giving it a second thought.