Building the mouse Logitech won't make

"Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself."

Yeah, I feel this :)

For just straight up assembly of one-sided SMT boards (i.e. not reclaiming components from a donor board), a $30 plug-in electric skillet and a solder paste stencil from the PCB manufacturer (or patience and a solder paste syringe) works far better than it has any right to. https://www.instructables.com/Simple-Skillet-Surface-mount-S...

I been using these mini pan frying skillets for years for prototype boards. <$2. An IR thermometer with a laser is handy during the process.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008863940082.html

And here is the cheap hot air rework station I use. <$15

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005989227215.html

You can even opt out of the stencil but I never do cuz it's much easier than not having it.